Watch The Sky
by cmcferreal
Summary: Seventh year starts off in unexpected ways. A new family and broken betrothal are only the beginning.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Seventh year starts off in unexpected ways. A new family and broken betrothal are only the beginning.

AN: Ok ok...I know I told you all in chapter 32 (BN:31 for all of us actually counting lol) of One Eighty by Summer that I would not post this until I was nearly done with it but this chapter was pouting and giving me puppy eyes. I couldn't resist.

A few points before we begin: This story is MASSIVE AU. Voldemort only had one horcruxes and was defeated by Cedric and Harry at the cemetery. Characters are totally OOC because of this. It takes place during 7th year.

* * *

Hermione stood on the platform, waiting for her two best friends to make an appearance. It was finally Seventh year. She of course, had been made Head Girl. She had no idea who her counterpart was, but it did not matter.

The first few years of school were an adventure. Between trolls, giant chess sets in her first year, being petrified in her second year, helping a convict escape third year and the Tri Wizard tournament fourth year, every year after was a breeze. Voldemort had tried to come back and nearly killed Cedric Diggory but between him and Harry, he was defeated for good.

Spotting the telltale black and red hair, Hermione pushed past weeping parents and scared first years and made her way to her friends. Hugs were given and plans were made before the whistle blew, notifying them that they had five minutes to get on the train. With goodbyes to their parents, they boarded the Hogwarts Express towards their final year.

"Bloody hell, I keep telling Mum I don't like corned beef but she still gives it to me every year!" Ron complained.

"Don't worry about it, it's my turn to get the trolley treats this year so get what you want," said Harry, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"Honestly Ron, you just ate. If you keep eating like this you will end up bigger than Hagrid and not in a good way," Hermione put in.

Harry snickered at the mental image. "So how was your summer 'Mione?"

"It was wonderful. I took a trip to the United States. I went to New York City. I didn't know how to get to the magic side but I still had loads of fun. How was yours?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "The first part was horrendous. Dudley seemed to think that since I was about to come of age, I would be his servant. I couldn't leave for the Burrow until my birthday and before I left he tried to corner me and make me conjure a pile of money. I just confunded him and he went looking for leprechauns. The rest was great though. Ron and I played Quidditch every chance we got and Bill was teaching me some simple curse breaking."

"Before Harry got to my house, Fred and George let me help with their business. They finally had enough galleons to start a shop in Hogsmeade. Diagon Alley was too pricey."

The three talked a bit more before Hermione had to leave and check in at the Head Compartment. She waved to friends and made her way to the front of the train.

xxxxx

Draco sat with his friends in their private compartment. Theodore Nott was talking about his summer in Spain to Blaise Zabini while Theo's girlfriend Daphne Greengrass was reading some new romance novel. Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe were staring out the window. Pansy Parkinson was currently clinging tightly to him.

"Will you just get off already? Stop clinging," he said snidely.

"Draco that is no way to talk to your fiancée." she said haughtily.

"You are not my fucking fiancée! I thought that was made clear when we tried to file the contracts!"

This outburst caused everyone in the compartment to look up.

"What's this? Your parents made the arrangements as soon as Pansy was born," said Theo, a look of shock on his face.

"Yeah, I remember my mum talking about it when she was searching for Astoria's betrothal. Daddy asked why not you and she told him that you and Pansy have been arranged since you were babies," said Daphne.

Draco sighed, running his hands through his hair. He no longer slicked it back, he preferred the slightly rakish look he had going. "We tried to file the contracts with the ministry. Since we are both of age now, it was time. Our parents can arrange a marriage all they want but it cannot be finalized until both parties reach maturity."

"Mate, we know all this, get to the good part." said Blaise.

Draco shot his friend a glare, shutting him up. "Well when we tried to file the contracts, my signature would take to the parchment just fine. But every time Pansy tried to sign, the quill would be forced away. It was like there was an invisible shield on the signature line. I touched my quill to it to see if there was a block but I was able to touch the parchment just fine and so was everyone else."

"We don't need a stupid contract. We could just get married Draco." said Pansy, trying to look seductive.

He rolled his eyes. "Pansy, one of the papers was a marriage license. We need the marriage license to get married. If you can't sign it we don't get married. And honestly, I'm glad that we can't!" he shouted, annoyed at her stupidity and vice like grip on his arm. She shrieked in outrage before stomping out of the compartment, slamming the door behind her.

"Well, now that she is gone, give us the real deal Malfoy." said Theo.

His friends knew him too well. "From what Father and the Minister said, the only way a betrothal contract would react like that is if there is another contract or vow in place. No one does the Vows anymore because it leaves no choice in the matter. If a Vow was made and a person turned out to be totally incompatible, then we would be stuck. The ministry searched through their files and found no contracts. Father swears he never made a formal Vow with anyone. I have no idea who I am betrothed to."

"Wow mate, that sucks. If I can help at all, please let me know. I speak for all of us here, I am sure." said Astoria.

His friends nodded in agreement. Draco said his goodbyes and made his way to the Head compartment. Unlike his counterpart, he knew who is opposite was. Everyone knew Hermione Granger would make Head Girl.

After the near return of Lord Voldemort in fourth year, things changed. Draco and his family went through a very hard time due to his father trying to help the Dark Lord come back. His father had been put on probation, which embarrassed the elder Malfoy greatly. He had to do community service at a muggle orphanage to try and drill into his head that blood supremacy had no place in the world. It was the same orphanage where Tom Riddle grew up.

He didn't know exactly what made his father change, but one day he came home in tears. Draco had never seen his father cry. From that day on, Lucius Malfoy had turned his views around. Lucius became a better man and he also helped Draco change. He would never like Potter or Weasley but he rarely insulted them or anyone. As for Granger, he became cordial and actually respected her. They were not friends, but they were no longer enemies.

He walked into the Head Compartment and saw Granger comforting a first year girl. The girl was in tears and saying she missed her mum. He recognized her as Gregory Goyle's little sister Tiffany. The girl had her head on Granger's shoulder and Granger was hugging her.

"Draco!" she cried, scrambling up and running to him. Tiffany was the complete opposite of Greg. She was short and thin, with thick blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She threw her arms around him, still sniffling.

"Hey Tiff, dry those tears. You have wanted to go to Hogwarts for years." he said kindly.

"I just want my mum. I'm scared, what if no one likes me?"

"I like you. Granger likes you. You will make a ton of friends and have a great time. I promise."

"I guess so..."

Draco told her where to find Greg. Greg was the only male in their group to have a little sister and all of them were highly protective of her. She was a very sweet girl and not like any of her family. Gregory Goyle Senior was a Death Eater, but did not answer the call to Voldemort in fourth year because Tiffany was very ill. His family had always come first and because of that, he was saved from serving time in Azkaban. He was misguided, but like his son, had a very good heart.

He looked at Granger, who waved her wand to dry the tears soaked into her shirt. "How long was she here?" he asked.

"Not very long. I saw her in the hallway crying and brought her here so she could have some privacy. I had no idea she was Goyle's sister. She is very sweet."

Draco gave a rare smile. "She is everyone's little sister. We know she will be in Hufflepuff. She is too nice and sweet to be in Slytherin. She would be eaten alive."

"No matter, you helped ease her fears. I am assuming you're Head Boy so let's go over the meeting plan. We have a meeting in fifteen minutes with the Prefects. Parvati took over my spot and I believe Blaise Zabini took yours correct?"

The two spent a few minutes going over the rules and the names of the prefects. They made a rough rotation schedule for patrols and decided to let the prefects volunteer to help for the Halloween Ball. The room started to fill up quickly when the meeting time drew near.

"Alright everyone, listen up." she said over the noise. "I'm Hermione Granger and this is Draco Malfoy. We are the Heads for this year. If you have any issues you can come to us. This is just an informative meeting to let you all know what to expect this year."

Draco took over for her. "There will be patrols every night. You will be paired with a prefect of the opposite sex and it may not be someone from the same house or year. You may get paired with someone you do not like. Deal with it. We are not babies. If you have Quidditch or some other obligation, do not wait until the last minute to tell us. We need to know as soon as possible in case it interferes with the schedule. Also, you always patrol together. Safety in numbers."

"House points."said Hermione. "You are now allowed to take them away. You cannot take them away for stupid reasons and it has to be fair. You can't take a hundred points away because someone knocked you down in the halls." she waved her wand and a packet of papers appeared on everyone's lap. "These are the point deduction guidelines. Get yourself familiar with them."

They continued the meeting for another hour before everyone was dismissed. They were close to the school now and they needed to change into their robes. With a wave, Hermione was gone.

Climbing into the thestral drawn carriage, Hermione, Harry and Ron chatted about what they wanted to do after school. Harry was interested in Curse Breaking, Ron wanted to get into the Auror department and Hermione was still undecided. The carriage reached the school before Hermione remembered something important. "Who is our Defense teacher?" she asked. Remus Lupin had come back for fifth and sixth year but recently moved to the US due to their more sympathetic laws on werewolves.

"Bloody hell, I forgot. I have no idea." said Harry.

The trio walked into the school and towards the Great Hall. As Head Girl, Hermione sat at the Teacher's table during dinner time, along with the Head Boy. She glanced at the seated teachers, but several were not seated yet. There were no new faces. Draco sat next to her and patiently waited for the sorting.

The other teachers filed in, but still no new Defense instructor. Professor McGonagall walked in with all the new first years who were waiting to be sorted. Along with the rest of the hall, they waited for the Sorting Hat to start its song. The brim opened up and the hat sang:

Take a look at what you see  
A dirty old hat I may be  
But there are things that I have known  
Throughout all the years that have flown

I see things that others cannot  
Things that change a simple plot  
A drunken vow makes old plans rot  
A new heritage changes thought

When old blood is lost, new is found  
All you need to do is look around

Times are changed and names will too  
A mother discovered and a father new

But for now, forget all that  
It's time for me to shine as the Sorting Hat!

"Strange," thought Hermione.

The sorting commenced and Draco was right about Tiffany Goyle being in Hufflepuff. She watched her tear up before her brother walked her over to the Hufflepuff table and hug her. It seems that Slytherins can be huge softies.

With the sorting done, Dumbledore stood to make his usual speech.

"It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all back to Hogwarts. For all you new students, I hope you enjoy yourselves and I promise that you will always find something new here, whether it be friends or new ideas. Just a few announcements before we dig in. First off, the Forbidden Forest is still forbidden. The name kind of gives it away. Seated on the right of the table are this years Head Boy and Head Girl: Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. If you have any problems and you are not comfortable coming to a teacher, they will be there for you. We also have a new staff member to introduce. He will be your Defense Against Dark Arts professor. Please give a warm welcome to Sirius Black!"

Harry, Hermione and Ron clapped the loudest. Sirius hadn't mentioned in any of his letters that he would be working at the school. She watched him walk in from a side door, giving her a quick wink before waving to the students.

The feast commenced. Hermione chatted with her teachers and Draco, discussing classes and other nonsense. Once the desserts cleared, it was time for bed. The prefects led everyone to their rooms while Draco and Hermione waited to be shown to theirs.

Professors McGonagall and Snape led their students to their dormitory, which was located just past the main staircase. A portrait of the Hogwarts crest protected the entrance way.

"There is no password. Just place your hand on the crest and you will be allowed entry. The portrait recognizes you magical signature so even if someone were to Polyjuice themselves they would not be able to get in." said Snape with his usual sneer.

"You also have new robes provided for you. You are no longer part of a house. As Head Students, you represent all the houses. Your robes are now dark grey with the Hogwarts crest and your ties are now red, green, blue and yellow striped. This is a new regulation that has been implemented this year." said McGonagall.

Draco and Hermione nodded their heads in understanding and were dismissed. The head dorm was beautiful. A large Hogwarts crest mosaic was above the mantle place. The floors were hardwood and there were two white leather couches with red, green blue and yellow throw pillows. There were two mahogany desks near the large floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the lake. The suite had a full kitchen and dining area too. There was a set of stairs on each side of the fireplace with each of their names on it. She went to her side and climbed the steps. She opened the door and gasped at the beautiful room. The large, king sized four poster bed was made out of white wood and had a sheer white canopy. The quilt was also white but had light and dark green embroidery. There were light and dark green decorative pillows. She may be Gryffindor but green has always been her favorite color. Her dresser and armoire were also white and the vanity had a large mirror and her toiletries were already laid out.

She had been expecting a typical Gryffindor room as she was pleasantly surprised that it was decorated to her own personal tastes. She would love staying here during the year.

Draco was having the same thoughts. He had expected Slytherin green and silver but his furniture was a warm mahogany with dark blue and black bedding. The bed was also a king sized four poster, but had blue privacy curtains. There was a hint of Asian to the room due to the privacy screens in place of a closet door and the paper lanterns strung about. He changed into his pajamas as proceeded to fall asleep, his dreams taking over his subconscious.

The next morning, Hermione's wand buzzed, waking her from a deep slumber. She had never slept so well at school. Her old bed in the Gryffindor dorms was slightly lump, but this one made her feel like she was sleeping on a cloud. She walked into her bathroom, and took a quick shower. Wrapped up in a light purple towel, she grabbed her wand to dry and style her hair into loose curls. Lavender had showed her the spell the previous year and Hermione's hair had not been bushy since. She quickly brushed her teeth and made her way to the closet.

She examined the new uniform. It was pretty much the same as her old one but the dark grey made it stand out. The Hogwarts Crest was on the right breast and the tie was a rainbow of house colors. It would be weird not to wear Gryffindor red. She quickly put it on and rushed out of her room, intent on getting to breakfast early.

Draco had just come down his stairs and was nearly bowled over by the Head Girl.

"Oh crap, I'm sorry Malfoy. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"It's alright," he said, rubbing his rib where her book had jabbed him. "What's the rush?"

"No rush really, just first day excitement. See you in the Great Hall?"

"Yes, sure," he said to her retreating form. He would never admit it, but she had grown up to be quite beautiful. Her long chocolate colored hair was no longer a wild mass and her sun kissed skin looked smooth and silky. Her whiskey colored eyes drew him in and the smattering of freckles on her nose were...cute. He never really analyzed his small crush or took it further due to his betrothal to Pansy. Well...ex betrothal. But he was still promised to someone. Someone he had no clue how to find. Shaking his head, he gathered his school bag and walked down to breakfast.

The Great Hall was buzzing with excitement for a new year. Professor McGonagall was handing out timetables while the Quidditch captains were going over try out dates. Hermione saw Harry walk up to Malfoy to ask when his try out was. So as not to schedule for the same day. Since fourth year, things had changed in the school. The near return of Voldemort had shown a lot of people the dangers of hate and a lot of students and families decided that hate was not worth it. There were still a few who though they were superior, like Pansy Parkinson and Marcus Flint but no one really paid them any mind. The Slytherins were the most changed. Many had only done what their parents told them. The ones from Death Eater families who knew the Dark Lord was not really dead were the worst, like Malfoy. But once Voldemort was vanquished for good, the cloud of evil seemed to lift. House unity flourished and the magical world seemed to be at its peak.

Of course, things were not all roses and rainbows. During the summer after fifth year, Hermione was driving with her parents to dinner one evening when they were hit by a drunk driver. A witch by the name of Mafalda Hopkirk, who worked at the ministry, happened to see the accident. It was pure chance that Hermione was carrying her wand. She was going to Diagon Alley afterwards to get it repaired and when Mafalda saw it, she made sure that Hermione and her parents were taken to St. Mungos. Unfortunately, her parent's injuries were too severe. Mark and Emily Granger died within minutes of getting to the hospital. Hermione had been in a coma for a week. With no family, no one was sure where Hermione was going to live. She was still underage and could not be on her own. When Lavender Brown heard what happened, her parents agreed to take Hermione in. She had been living with them since. Frank and Patricia Brown were wonderful people and Hermione and Lavender became very close. Hermione had a tough time during sixth year but persevered and she knows her parents would be proud. Her trip to New York this past summer was a tribute to her parents, who met there at a dental conference.

Hermione got her timetable from Professor McGonagall and studied it. Her first class was double potions with the Slytherins. As Head students, any class her and Draco shared they would be partnered up. She did not really mind because he was a good student.

Harry and Ron finally managed to sit down and eat. Ron grumbled about his schedule and Harry was excited to take Defense with Sirius. It was their last class of the day.

With breakfast finished, the trio made their way to the dungeons and into Snape's class. Getting her books out, Hermione read the board, which already had their potion listed. It was a Lineage Potion, the magical equivalent to a DNA test.

Draco sat down beside her and took his belongings out. "I'm surprised he is making us do this first. That potion is quite difficult." he said.

"I am too, but this is NEWT year. This will probably be the easiest one we have."

At that moment, Snape swept into the room, his black robes billowing behind him. "This is a NEWT class. I will not have you bumbling around like fools and making stupid first year mistakes. If you can't cut it, I will drop you from my class. The potion is on the board. Start now." he said with a sneer.

Draco offered to get the ingredients and Hermione set up the cauldron, filling it with the required amount of water and lighting the fire. Her and Draco split the ingredients and prepared them according to the directions. No words were exchanged, as they had worked together before and could anticipate each others movements. After the first hour, the potion was near finished. It needed to be stirred one hundred times clockwise, with a counter clockwise turn every fifth stir. Draco offered to do it while Hermione cleaned up. She glanced around the room while cleaning and noticed that Neville actually had a perfect potion, while Ron's was billowing green steam and was bubbling dangerously.

"Weasley you fool! The frog wart goes in BEFORE the newt eye! Zero marks for the day," bellowed Snape, vanishing the potion. Ron's ears went red while some Slytherins snickered at him. Harry was trying to calm him down before he blew his top.

Fifteen minutes before class ended, it was time to test the potions that were done correctly. "Malfoy, Granger, Potter and Longbottom. You will each drink your potion. A blue light will shine above your head with the name of your parents spelled out. You will not feel a thing."

Neville drank his first and the names Frank and Alice Longbottom showed above his head. Harry drank his and his parents names appeared. Malfoy also had the expected results. When Hermione drank hers, she expected to see Emily and Mark Granger. But those were not the names above her head.

The names were Amaryllis DuLaine and Severus Snape

AN: This story will not be updates very often. Maybe every week to week and a half. Once One Eighty By Summer is near wrapped, the story will update more often. Tell me what you think y'all!


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Chapter two! Yes, Sevvie is a Daddy. And our Darling of Gryffindor is his daughter. Oh the horror!

Her head was spinning. Amaryllis DuLaine and Severus Snape. The names were on a never ending loop in her mind. Through her blurry vision, she saw Snape go even whiter than she thought humanly possible. Her vision was starting to black around the edges. Right before she passed out, she felt a pair of arms catching her.

She woke up disoriented. She saw plain white ceilings and realized she was in the hospital wing. Memories of potions class assaulted her mind.

"Oh dear God." she said.

"Miss Granger, I am so happy that you have finally woken up. You gave us quite the fright." said the voice of Albus Dumbledore. She glanced to the right and noticed him sitting in a chair next to her hospital bed.

"Headmaster, the potion has to be wrong! It's not possible! Please tell me I did the potion wrong," Hermione pleaded.

Dumbledore didn't say anything for a few moments. Before Hermione could panic, he started to speak.

"Unfortunately, even if the potion was wrong, it would not give those names. It would give your own name. The potion was done correctly. I tested the remaining amount that was in your cauldron. As with most of your work, it was perfect. Did you have any idea that you were adopted my dear?"

"No, there was no indication. My parents never said a thing." she said, tears forming in her eyes. How could they not tell her?

"I know that when they passed, there were a lot of things happening around you. Did you ever look at any of the paperwork that they left for you? I recall a file in your parents Will that was to be given to you. The lawyer was quite insistent that you get it."

Hermione thought for a moment. During the reading of their Will, she had still been in shock. She had only come out of a coma a few days before and the reading was done in her hospital room. She recalled Dumbledore there, along with Molly, Harry and Minerva McGonagall.

"I don't really remember much. They still had me on pain potions and I only remember bits and pieces."

Dumbledore summoned Fawkes and sent off a letter. She watched the phoenix soar out of the window and into the slowly darkening sky.

"I figured you would not remember a whole lot. I have asked Mr. and Mrs. Brown to bring that file by. It was specifically mentioned in your parents will that it was to be given to you upon their death. They should be here within the hour.

When the Browns arrived, they ran to Hermione, hugging her. Since she had moved in, they treated her like a daughter. They were wonderful people and she never had any trouble talking to them. She relayed the story of what happened to them and they promised to help her through it.

They handed her the sealed envelope that was left to her by her parents. Hands trembling, she opened it and pulled out several pieces of paper. The top one was a letter.

_Our dearest Hermione,_

_If you are reading this, then things did not happen the way we planned. We had planned on giving you this information upon your graduation but sometimes things change._

_No matter what, we love you. We have always loved you and this changes nothing. You are our sweet, bright and lovely daughter._

_Hermione, you are adopted. We were unable to conceive a child on our own. After several years of trying, we turned to adoption. We went through several agencies before we found you. We still remember the day we saw you. We were in an orphanage near Wiltshire and it was the last one on our list. There was a room with seven crying babies. The orphanage was well tended and the children there were very healthy. It seems that all the babies were just having a bad day, but you Hermione were quiet. Your big brown eyes were looking all around you, taking everything in. You were just under a year old and according to the matron of the house, already walking. Even back then you were ahead of the pack. When we laid eyes on you, it was love at first sight._

_You must have felt it, because when you saw us, the brightest smile spread across your cheeks. You stood up and started waving, yelling Mama and Dada to us. We knew right then that you were our little girl. We asked your name and we were told it was Hermione Jean. There was no last name. Your mother has always loved Shakespeare, so we decided to not change your name. It would keep your birth family with you even if you didn't know it._

_We were given a sealed envelope and told not to open it until you were eleven years old. We had no idea why, but when Minerva McGonagall knocked on our door that September morning, we knew why. Open it Hermione. We resealed it and it will answer some of the questions you surely have._

_Sweet girl, we love you so much. Never ever forget that. We will always be there for you. We may be gone from this Earth, but we will always be in your heart._

_With all the love we have,_

_Mummy and Daddy_

By the time she finished the letter, tears were streaming down her face. Wiping them away, she opened the envelope that was in the file. She gasped when she looked at it.

It was a picture of her and her birth mother, Amaryllis DuLaine. Hermione had gotten her looks from her. She was a spitting image. The only difference was her eyes. Amaryllis had bright green eyes. In the wizarding picture, she saw her mother smiling down at her and kissing her forehead. There was no sound, but she could almost hear the squeal of delight her baby self made whenever her mother kissed her.

Putting the picture down, Hermione saw another letter. The loopy cursive was very similar to her own and Hermione knew that it was from Amaryllis.

_My child,_

_If you are reading this, then you know that the family you grew up with is not your blood. I can only hope they treated you with love and affection. I am jealous that they got to see your first steps, hear your first word and take you to buy your wand. But it was better for you that I did not raise you._

_My beautiful girl, I was raised in a proper Pureblood family. They had ancient rules that did not fit the times and they did not allow a young girl to grow into a successful woman. We were taught to be pleasing to the eye and to snag a rich husband._

_I did not want that for you. I fell in love with a wonderful man. Your father was a gruff, slightly rude man in public, but when it was just us, he was a sweet, gentle and loving man. He treated me like a queen. But my mother did not approve and neither did my father. He was a half blood and not fit for a Pureblood princess. We had been seeing each other in secret for over a year before I became pregnant with you._

_I never got to tell him. My mother caught me casting the pregnancy charm and tried to keep me prisoner. I managed to run away, but I could not go to your father. Unfortunately, he had already become mixed up with Tom Riddle and could not get out. My parents were huge supporters and if he found out that I was with your father, he would force me back to my parents. Even though I was barely two months along, I already loved you. I was not going to lose you._

_I took all the money I could and fled to the muggle world. I managed to go from place to place and keep up with my pregnancy. But when I went into labor, I was working at an orphanage. They let me stay and raise you there. Six months after you were born, I noticed one of my father's lackeys eyeing the orphanage. I couldn't be on the run with a baby. It broke my heart, but I had to leave you._

_I included a necklace. It was given to me by your father. If the stone is blue, I am no longer in this world. But if the stone is red, just hold it and think of me. I will hear its call and find you, wherever you are._

_I love you my sweet baby_

_Mummy._

Hermione glanced at the chain that held a brightly colored jewel. She stared for several long minutes, glancing at the picture in her hand every few moments.

Frank and Patricia Brown sat beside her, not saying anything. Wordlessly, she handed the letter and picture to them. They read the letter, eyes getting wider and wider.

"Amaryllis? I went to school with her," said Patricia.

Hermione looked up sharply.

"She was a very sweet girl. A Slytherin yes, but she never held the same prejudices that everyone else did. I was two years older than her and when she made prefect, we worked together on rounds a few times. She was bright, just like you. I never thought her and Severus...it does explain a few things though," Patricia said.

Hermione's mind was reeling. Patricia knew her birth mother? How did her birth mother and Severus being together explain things?

"Explain what things?" she asked, perplexed.

Frank and Patricia glanced at each other before Frank took over the story.

"It was about five months after she graduated when Amaryllis disappeared. No one knew why. Severus was frantic. He never told anyone why he was so involved. The people who were sympathetic to Voldemort assumed it was because the DuLaines were near the top of his inner circle and he was following orders. Not to mention the way Amaryllis and him were while at school. They never outwardly showed affection but Severus was almost kind to her in public and she was really the only female he spoke to beside Lily Potter, although she was Lily Evans back then. He never acted like that around anyone else. He spent his time with Lucius Malfoy and the Lestrange brothers."

"Honey, the stone is red. Do you want to meet her?" asked Patricia softly.

Hermione stared at the pendant, torn. She wanted to meet her, but she had barely come to terms with her parents' death. Her life as she knew it had been thrown into chaos and she wasn't sure she could handle it. She expressed as much to the Browns. They were sympathetic and promised not to push her.

"There is someone who wants to talk to you. Severus has been pacing outside for hours now," said Frank a bit timidly. She had never seen the big man timid. He was 6'4" and built like a linebacker. Seeing him timid was...odd.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione nodded her consent. She couldn't exactly avoid Snape since he was her professor and apparently her biological father. The Browns stood and hugged her before walking outside the curtain surrounding her bed.

Heart pounding, Hermione heard the rustle of the curtain and looked up at Professor Snape. He looked haggard, his face blank except for what looked like fear in his eyes.

"Did you know?" he asked quietly. She shook her head and handed him the letter. His eyes whipped from side to side, reading quickly. She knew he finished when his gaze darted to the pendant and he sank down into an empty chair, like his legs could not hold him up.

"She...she's alive," he breathed. "I thought she was dead. All these years. She's been alive all these years."

Hermione was quiet. She had no idea what to say. It turns out she didn't have to speak. Snape was more vocal than she had ever seen him.

"I was always unnecessarily cruel to you. You look so much like her and it was like a slap in the face every time I looked at you. I never expected you to be her child...my child. You came from a muggle family and you acted so different. There are many similarities of course but I was too blind to see them. If I would have looked closer I would have seen it though. You do not have her eyes but you do have my mothers' eyes. You also have my analytical mind. It would irritate me when you thought exactly like me. I don't know what to say Miss Granger...I really do not."

Hermione spent several seconds trying to find something to say. She finally shrugged her shoulders, looking lost.

"I wish I could say something intelligent, but I can't. My entire life was just thrown into a cyclone that doesn't seem to be ending. I'm not a muggleborn anymore, which has shaped a large part of my life at this school and I'm part of a bigoted Pureblood elite family that doesn't know I exist. I really don't know what to say or do," she said, working herself up into a panic.

"Stop," he said simply. "Working yourself up will not do anything. The only thing we can do is take it a day at a time."

"But how? You're my father. And apparently my mother came from a blood supremacy family that supported Voldemort and forced my mother to abandon me. I am barely hanging on after the people I thought were my parents died. And now all this? And it's NEWT year and I have to figure out what I want to do with my life. How can I figure out what I want to do if my entire life is a lie?"

"And how is your life a lie? The Grangers loved you. You were legally adopted so you ARE a Granger, in the eyes of Wizard and Muggle law. You may not be muggleborn but you are still Hermione Granger, insufferable know-it-all and Gryffindor."

Hermione closed her eyes. She was overwhelmed and at a total loss on how to proceed. She heard Snape stand and leave. It was dark outside so she did the only thing she could. She slept.

Severus Snape, for once in his life had no answers. Since the first day of classes fell on a Friday he decided to spend the weekend with Lucius. He needed a friend perspective on what to do.

He walked slowly towards Hogsmeade so he could apparate to Malfoy Manor. While on the walk to the Wizarding town, Snape let himself give in to the memories of Amaryllis. He remembered the times spent hidden in the library with her, joking and laughing when they were supposed to be studying. Stolen kisses in secluded hallways. He remembered making love to her for the first time by the lake on a quiet April night, with the stars as their only witnesses. He let a single tear fall. He missed her so much. For so many years he believed her to be dead. Lucius was the only person besides Lily who knew how deeply in love he was with her. Most, including Dumbledore thought he was in love with Lily. But Lily was only a friend. The closest to a sister he ever had. She was the one to help him nurture his romantic side. It was Lily who helped him woo Amaryllis.

When he reached beyond the protective borders of Hogwarts, he spun on the spot and landed in the Malfoy sitting room. A house elf had probably notified Lucius of his arrival. Hell, he didn't need the notification at all. Lucius was tied by blood to the Manor and knew of every arrival. The elder Malfoy strode into the room, his dark green cloak fluttering behind him.

"Severus, what are you doing here?" asked Lucius, slightly perplexed. Severus just looked at him, before sinking down onto the couch. Weariness was prominent in his features. He only ever let his guard down near Lucius. Lucius knew it was serious.

"She's alive. All these years old friend, and she lives," whispered Severus, pain coloring the words.

"Amaryllis? How? How do you know?"

"A Lineage Potion. My first class of the day. She drank it and our names appeared. She's mine. I didn't know. She's been under my nose and I didn't see it."

Lucius looked at his friend, still confused. Severus was a father? And what student was he referring to?

Severus caught his best friend's eye. He nodded slowly. Lucius took the hint and used Legilimency to enter his mind. Severus never, ever let anyone in like that. He must be more shaken than he thought. Within minutes, Lucius pulled back, staggering under the sheer weight of Severus's emotions.

Quickly summoning an elf, Lucius plunked a large tumbler of Fire whiskey in front of his friend. Taking the other for himself, he drank deeply. Severus did the same. The two friends did what they always did when things weighed heavily on their minds. They got completely and utterly drunk.

AN: The letters are sappy, but mothers are sappy people in general. What do you think so far?

BN: ok, I've been a bad beta and had this chapter since Friday but in the midst of finals and celebratory drinks and Christmas parties I've been delayed. But anyway enjoy and merry Christmas


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and stayed safe.

* * *

The Great Hall was buzzing by lunchtime. Draco heard it as he walked in. In only a few hours, the whole school knew that Hermione Granger was a member of a prominent pureblood family and the daughter of their Head of House. The Slytherins were the biggest gossipers. He heard Astoria Greengrass talking to her sister and asking questions. Daphne, who was in class with them, was telling the whole story.

"-drank the potion and the names were right there. Professor Snape looked horrified. Stupid girl ended up fainting but Draco caught her. He ended up bringing her to the Hospital Wing. Professor ended up dismissing the class and cancelled the rest of classes for today."

"Can you believe that garbage? That frizzy haired freak is a DuLaine," screeched Pansy. "That family is right up there with the Malfoys in prominence and wealth. It's preposterous. She probably changed the potion to get attention. There is no way she is anywhere near pureblood. If she thinks she can lay a hand on my Drakie-"

Theodore Nott even put his two sickles in, "-talk to father. A match with the Snape and DuLaine family would create a powerful match in the wizarding world."

That disturbed Draco more than anything. He felt odd knowing that there would be families trying to betroth her to their sons. He knew she would never stand for it but family magic was strong and could cripple her if her parents were strong enough to force it. He didn't know about her mother, but his Godfather was a very powerful wizard. Hopefully Uncle Sev would never put her through something like that.

The rest of the day went pretty easily. Their last class was DADA with Sirius Black. Draco had never formally met his cousin, but heard from his mother that he was one if the more decent members of the Black family.

He took his seat near the middle of the room. As Head Boy, he couldn't slink off to the back of the room. He needed to be a good example to the rest of the students. He grabbed his textbook and wand, placing them on his desk. He also got a few sheets of parchment and a quill to take notes if needed. Pansy, much to his dismay, grabbed the seat next to him, blabbering about wedding plans and where she wanted to honeymoon. Blaise sat on his other side, pretending to weep at "losing his wittle Drakiepoo" to Pansy. He gave him the finger and turned to the front. Their Professor just walked in.

"Good afternoon Seventh Years, I am Sirius Black, your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Since this is NEWT year, we will be diving right into the thick of things. We have ten months to get you prepared for the tests that will determine your futures. Any questions?" He looked around the room and when he saw no raised hands, he continued. "Ok, now that the serious stuff is done, here is how things will work in my class. I'm not going to babysit you. You are all legal adults in the wizarding world and I will treat you as such. We will be working on some dangerous stuff in this classroom and I expect all of you to follow any safety protocols that are set forth. Now, time for some fun. We will start off easy with the Patronus Charm."

Professor Black went on to explain the wand movement and the incantation. He told them about needing a powerful, happy memory for it. The class stood in a line and one by one, tried it out. Potter shot out a stag, Weasley a terrier and Longbottom a panther. They were the only three to manage the spell so far. When it was Draco's turn, he thought about the summer spent with his father teaching him to fly. It was the best memory he had. With that in mind, he pointed and shouted the spell. A silvery white light shot out and Draco stared in awe at the form his Patronus took. He was expecting a dragon or a snake, but it was neither. His form was a Sphinx.

"Well shit, that is bloody amazing!" exclaimed their Professor. "It is very rare for a Patronus to take the form of a magical creature. That shows you have some serious magical power Mr. Malfoy. You must get it from the Black side of the family," he said with a cheeky smirk. Draco laughed along with the rest of the class. The continued practicing the charm until the end of class, but no one else got it.

Draco dropped his belongings off in his dorm room before trudging wearily to dinner. He saw that Hermione was not back yet and figured she was still in the hospital wing. He figured he would see her after dinner. She was Head Girl and it was part of his duty to look after her wellbeing. She would do the same for him.

People were still talking about Hermione's parentage. Hogwarts was terrible when it came to gossip. He made his way to the Head table, the seat beside him remaining empty. He also noticed his Godfather's empty seat. He had no clue how Uncle Sev was doing. He felt bad for not thinking about how he would be. If anything, he would be at the Manor for the weekend. His father and Godfather always got shitfaced when something was wrong. He finished his dinner quickly and strode out of the Great Hall, making his way towards the Hospital Wing. When he peeked inside, he saw Hermione fast asleep, a few pieces of paper and a red necklace sitting on the table next to her. He didn't feel like waking her, so he went to his room to finish some homework that was assigned that day.

"Do you think she's alright?" Ron asked quietly. They were in their dorm room and Seamus, Dean and Neville were already asleep.

"I dunno mate. To find something like that out the way she did...I wish I knew what to do," Harry said with a frustrated sigh.

The two Gryffindors sat in silence, both thinking about the revelation that occurred in Potions class. Things were going to change and neither man knew what to do about it.

Narcissa Malfoy decided that the two men in her home had had enough to drink. She was walking to the parlor they were located in to drag them off to bed before they gave themselves alcohol poisoning. She had just reached the doors when she heard the two talking.

"-drank so much that night. I can barely remember anything," slurred Lucius

"It was our last day at Hogwarts, we had to get wash...wait...schwas...really drunk," said Severus, unable to get the word "wasted" out.

"We made so many promises about what we would do after school. Travel the world, create a life changing potion and marry our kids off. We haven't done any of that," said Lucius sadly.

"I didn't know I had a kid. I would only want a daughter of mine married to your son. No one else would have been worthy of...of..."

Narcissa peeked in and saw that both men had passed out. Could it be possible? Could some half assed plans made while they were intoxicated really be enough to be considered a Vow? She would have to wait until morning to find out.

"Now where did Lucius hide that bloody pensieve?" she muttered, swiftly making her way to her husband's office. She needed it for when they woke up.

"Ugh, what the bloody fucking hell," groaned Severus the next morning. Some stupid house elf had a death wish. The drapes were wide open and the sun was shining directly on his face. He heard Lucius groaning and mumbling death threats to whoever had opened them.

"Get up, both of you," said Narcissa sharply. When the men didn't move, she waved her wand and with a muttered Aguamenti, both hung-over males had icy cold water sprayed into their faces.

"Dammit Cissa! Are you out of your bloody mind?" bellowed Lucius. At her glare, he mumbled an apology and dried his robes. Severus did the same. Narcissa was fierce. She may look like a docile kitten but she would tear you to shreds if you angered her.

"I need your memories from your last night at Hogwarts. Now please. Place them into the pensieve. Quickly."

Severus and Lucius complied, both too curious to question it. When they were done, Narcissa told them to be patient before putting her face into the swirling memories.

It was about twenty minutes later when she pulled back. She slapped both of them upside the head.

"You idiots!"


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I know it has been a ridiculous amount of time since I last updated. Real life and my other story One Eighty by Summer take up a lot of time. Once OEbS is finished, this story will become priority. Come visit me on twitter (ChrissyCasualty) and there will be sneak peeks and information for both stories.

* * *

Sunday morning Hermione was allowed to leave the infirmary. Since everyone should still be at breakfast, she didn't run into anyone on her way back to the Head Dorms. She wearily stepped inside the dorm, shutting the door quietly. The fire was blazing merrily in the fireplace and the dorm was quiet. She sat down on the couch, deep in thought. She hadn't seen Professor Snape since Friday night and from the whispered conversation between Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall she knew he was not at the school. She had requested that she receive no visitors. She did not want to see the looks of pity on her friend's faces or the inevitable interrogation from them either. She was still trying to process everything herself and couldn't handle any questions.

She held the locket tightly in her hand. Part of her really wanted to use it to call her birth mother. She had so many questions for her but another part of her felt like she was dishonoring her parents' memory for even wanting to get in contact. She sighed, not sure what she wanted to do. She stared into the fire, her heart and mind at war.

sxsxsx

Down in the Great Hall, the school was still buzzing over Hermione's parentage. Draco tried to ignore the speculation in respect for Hermione's feelings. It was hard to listen to the Slytherins though. Half of them were overly excited because now it would be "proper" to pursue her since she was not a Muggleborn. The other half were angry, because they thought she was faking it and that she was trying to increase her station. The only person who had even a little pity for the girl was surprisingly Millicent Bulstrode. Millicent had inquired after Hermione's wellbeing the night before. She confided to Draco that Hermione was the only reason she was able to pass final exams the year before and she held no ill will towards the Gryffindor.

Potter and Weasley kept glancing at him and whispering. It was really starting to get on his nerves. He was about to confront them when they stood and walked out of the door, motioning for him to follow. He reminded himself to hex them later on for treating him like a dog expected to follow orders.

Standing outside the doors of the Great Hall, the witless wonders were waiting.

"What do you two want?" he asked rudely.

Weasley went to reach for his wand but a hand on his arm from Potter stopped it.

"We want to make sure that there is no danger from the Slytherins. Some look angry and we want Hermione safe. None of this is her fault," Potter said quietly, eyes scanning the halls for lingering students.

Draco gained a little more respect for him. He knew that no overt threats were made but the signs were there. The fact that Potter noticed was surprising.

"The ones that are angry are from of the less prominent families. The DuLaines were and still are a very influential family. They were thought to be the last of the line. Amaryllis was an only child. When it gets out that she had a daughter, I can guarantee that they will come looking for her. They may have disowned Amaryllis, but a child would still be able to inherit because she was conceived before she was disinherited. That makes Granger almost as wealthy as me. In fact, their fortune could have surpassed the Malfoy fortune. The DuLaines have been in seclusion since the end of the First Wizarding War. They do their manipulations behind the scenes now."

"But how can we protect her from them? She can easily take care of herself, but she is still vulnerable because of her parents' death. She had no other family."

Draco pondered for a moment. "Two things run in her favor. One being that she is of age and Wizarding Law prohibits them from creating contracts and arrangements. The other thing in her favor is Professor Snape. He is her biological father and has more right to her than her grandparents. Snape would never force a marriage on her, not after what happened with Amaryllis. I don't know the story, but if they had a child together then he cared about her. And I know she had an arranged marriage because it was a huge scandal when she disappeared. People still talk about it, especially my mother."

Weasley looked contemplative. "I think I remember my mum talking about her once. I was really little but the name sounds familiar. We may not be in the Pureblood elite but we are still Pureblood and hear the stories."

"Well, if Hermione comes back to the Head Dorm, I'll owl you. But this does not make us friends," said Draco, not unkindly.

Potter nodded and he and Weasley turned back down the hall. When they were a good twenty feet away, Ron looked at Harry.

"When did he start calling her Hermione?"

sxsxsx

Hermione was pulled from her thoughts when the door to the dorms was opened. She watched silently as Draco walked in, heading for the couch she was sitting on. When he caught sight of her, he looked momentarily stunned before giving her a small smile.

"Hey, doing alright?" he asked her softly.

It was the simple concern that broke her defenses. She started to cry, her emotions all converging and overloading her mind. Her face was in her hands, heavy cries wracking her small frame. She felt his arms come around her and heard him making small shushing noises. He didn't say anything, just let her cry.

It was a long time before her cries slowed down. Draco's shirt was a mess and her hair was wild and plastered to her forehead. He still thought she was beautiful, but locked those thoughts away. He was promised to someone and it wouldn't be fair to get his hopes up, even for a few moments.

She looked at him, wiping the remnants of tears from her face. "Thank you Draco. I didn't realize how much I needed to break down."

"It's alright. Are you okay now?"

"As okay as I can be. This is just a lot to take in. I'm not sure what to do. How bad are the rumors?"

He sighed, not really wanting to tell her, but knowing she could not face the rest of the school with no warning. "A little more than half of the Slytherins are actually fairly relieved. You have been an enigma to us for years and to many of them, you not being a muggleborn is comforting. As for the rest, many believe you are faking it to increase your station. Those are the ones that worry me a bit. Especially Pansy Parkinson and the Greengrass sisters. They have been looking to raise their family up in the Pureblood ranks but with a DuLaine back in the picture, it may not happen."

"What about the rest of the school?"

"The rest are on your side, no matter what happens. The one thing that you will probably notice is male attention. You are a very smart, powerful witch and now realized as the daughter of a well respected Professor and a DuLaine. There are a lot of families who will be clamoring for a marriage."

She stared at him in shock. "Marriage? I'm seventeen years old. There is no way I am ready to get married."

"This is the wizarding world," he said with a shrug. "Most marriages happen the summer after our last year of school. We are expected to produce heirs as soon as possible and Purebloods are notorious for miscarrying."

Hermione sat in thought. Would Snape expect her to marry young? What about the DuLaine family?

"Draco what do you know about the DuLaine family?"

He explained the things he knew. He told her about their support for the Dark Lord and their seclusion from the Wizarding Society.

"My mother would know more; Amaryllis was her best friend in school and used to spend a lot of time at the DuLaine estate. Do you want me to write her?"

"No...not yet. I need more time to figure things out. Thank you for the information though."

When she went to her room, he kept his promise and owled Potter, letting him know that she was in the dorm but not up for visitors. His eagle owl came back with no response so he figured the matter was closed. Since it was Sunday, he figured he could get some flying in before lunch. He grabbed his Nimbus 2002 and flew out to the pitch from the window in the common room.

Two hours of vigorous flying helped his mood. He got a decent workout and had plenty of sweat and mud on him to show for it. Lunch was in less than an hour, so he needed to shower and get some clean clothes on before he showed his face in the Great Hall.

When he was fully dressed, he wandered towards the common room to grab a book before lunch. He saw Hermione, also freshly showered and dressed. She was headed towards the door.

"Going to face the masses?"

She jumped slightly, not expecting him to be there. "Yes, I might as well get it over with. At least my friends can be a buffer between the rest of the school and myself. Dinner should be easy since we sit at the Head Table."

He offered her an arm. "Come on, us walking in together will get people to forget about your parentage for a few minutes."

She stared at the offered arm. "Are you sure?"

"Very. Come on Granger, I am a growing boy and need my lunch," he said while holding his stomach and feigning crippling hunger.

She giggled and the sound made his chest tighten. She looped her arm through his and walked towards the Great Hall.

They heard the low rumble of several hundred students talking and Hermione stopped short, nearly causing Draco to lose his balance. He gave her an inquiring look.

"I just need a minute," she said. She was starting to turn white with fear.

"Relax. This is no worse than fourth year. And you held your head high. Pull some of that Gryffindor courage and face them. You are still Hermione Granger."

She nodded her head before taking his arm again. With a deep breath, they walked through the doors.

It took a few moments before all the students noticed them. She saw students nudging the people next to them and pointing. No more than ten seconds later, silence rang out through the hall.

"Oi! They're not part of the bloody circus. Quit staring or I'll practice transfiguring you all into pincushions!" bellowed Ginny from the middle of the Gryffindor table. Many people went back to their meals and Hermione shot the redhead a grateful look.

"Until dinner My Lady," said Draco with an elaborate bow. She saw the sarcastic smirk before he strode to the Slytherin table.

She sat in between Harry and Ron, both of them nearly smothering her with hugs. They didn't ask her any questions during the meal and she appreciated it. She knew they were burning with questions.

Over at the Slytherin table, Draco was getting a hard time from Pansy.

"Why the hell are you associating yourself with that filthy Mudblood?" she shrieked when he sat down. Her long, sharp nails dug into his arm where she gripped him and demanded answers.

"She isn't a Mudblood Parkinson. Haven't you heard?" he replied with a bored tone, scooping some pasta salad onto his plate.

"She faked the potion and everyone knows it. Filthy little upstart whore," she sneered.

He snatched his arm from her grip before getting in her face. "I made the potion with her in case you have forgotten. Are you accusing me of fraud? Are you calling me a liar? She IS the daughter of Severus Snape and Amaryllis DuLaine. Amaryllis was my mother's best friend. Do you think I haven't seen pictures of her? Hermione Granger is the spitting image of her mother. Severus is my Godfather and that makes Hermione Granger part of my family. If anyone gives her trouble, they will answer to me," he said snarling. The last part he said loudly enough for all of Slytherin to hear. Pansy shrank back and Blaise gave him a nod of respect. Millicent gave him a look that told him she would knock heads in needed.

No one would mess with Hermione Granger. Not while he was around.

AN: Protective Draco rears his not at all ugly head. Until next time lovelies.


	5. Chapter 5

"I got all the homework you missed on Friday. Although why we have homework is a mystery," said Ron around a mouthful of food.

"The only thing for Defense is to practice the Patronus Charm. I'm sure you will get it pretty easily," said Harry while pounding Ron's back with his hands. Ron had started to choke while he tried to speak.

Hermione took a sip of her pumpkin juice before thanking them. She was glad that they were acting semi normal around her. She knew she would need to talk to them about it but she didn't want to do it where people would listen in.

"Will you guys come to the Head Dorms after lunch? You two, Ginny and Lavender."

The four eagerly nodded their heads and promised to come with her. Hermione quickly wrote on a piece of parchment to let Draco know that the dorm would be invaded by Gryffindors. She used a banishing charm to send it over to him.

Draco was finishing his lunch and the Slytherins around him were quiet. None of them wanted to anger him. The announcement that Hermione Granger was under his protection shocked many of them and others were afraid. A neatly folded piece of parchment hit the side of his head and he looked around for the culprit. He saw Hermione nod to him from the Gryffindor table. Reading the note quickly, he wrote back asking if he needed to be there. She replied with an affirmative and he nodded to her. He stood up and strode out of the Great Hall. He wanted to get to the dorm first, to have time to think. He needed to write to his father to let him know that he had declared Hermione to be under the protection of the Malfoys. He had no doubt that his father already knew of her parentage. He finished the hastily written letter and sent it off with Fury, who was his personal eagle owl. He had just watched the bird disappear into the distance when the door opened and five Gryffindors piled in. Well, four Gryffindors and a Head student.

He acknowledged the group with a slight dip of his head and settled down on one of the white leather couches. Surprisingly, Hermione sat next to him. She spoke slowly, as if she had to search for the right words. She told them everything and read both letters to them. The picture was passed around and everyone could not believe how much she looked like her mother. She also explained her feelings as to why she was not sure about summoning her mother with the necklace.

"Hermione how is it betraying your parents? If they had felt that finding her would hurt them they would have never given you all the stuff in the first place," said Lavender with a shocking amount of logic.

The other murmured in agreement before moving in to the rumors. Everyone told her what they heard and it was like Draco said. The other houses except Slytherin were supportive.

"I think it's time for me to speak up and tell you all what I've done," said Draco.

"Malfoy if you did anything stupid I'll hex you!" growled Ron, wand pointed.

Draco smirked. "Hex me how? To throw up slugs? It worked out so well for you last time."

Ron turned red with anger. Hermione quickly threw up a shield charm between the two and accioed their wands.

"Are you done with this pissing contest? Good. Continue Draco," she said, glaring at the two boys. Ron looked properly chastened and Draco shrugged indifferently.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I did something at lunch today that you all should know about. It takes care of the Slytherins for the most part. The ones who would go against it are too stupid to hide it well."

"Well? What did you do?" Harry demanded.

"I declared Hermione to be under the protection of the Malfoy family," he said simply.

Harry, who grew up with a muggle family just looked confused. Ginny and Ron stared wide eyed at Draco. Hermione just stared, waiting for him to continue.

"Seriously? That is pretty heavy. What does your father think?" Ginny asked him.

"I just finished owling him when you came here. He would not object due to his friendship with Severus. Either way, it has already been done.

"What does being under your family's protection mean?" asked Harry. Hermione leaned forward and listened more intently.

"Basically it means I am drawing you into the Malfoy family. Anything done to you or said about you would be considered doing or saying something about the Malfoy family. If you were harmed or slandered, the law will allow the head of my family to seek retribution as we see fit. It is an old Pureblood law that only applies to Purebloods."

"How racist," snapped Hermione.

"This is the wizarding world Granger. No matter how much you huff and puff about it, there are many old laws geared specifically to Purebloods. Any who, you being put under our protection means that no harm will come to you. No one messes with the Malfoys."  
sxsxsx

At Malfoy Manor, Lucius was seeing off his oldest friend. "I'm not sure when we should tell them. This is big. Draco has grown up with the expectation of an arranged marriage but she has not. You said she reacted badly to the news of her parentage and this could break her."

"I'm worried about how the DuLaine family will react. The entire class saw it and it will be in the Prophet soon, I guarantee it."

A house elf came in and bowed, silently holding out a letter to Lucius. He opened and read it quickly before smiling at Severus.

"No worries about them. Draco just declared her under Malfoy protection. This Vow may not be so bad after all."

Hermione stood before the door of the Great Hall and took a deep breath. Ron, Harry and Ginny were on her left and Draco and Millicent were on her right. She smiled at the Slytherin girl thankfully. They had become sort of friends last year when the girl was near tears while studying in the library. Hermione helped her understand her lessons and she passed her exams with flying colors.

Blaise Zabini strode up to them and stood next to Draco.

"Zabini why are you here?" asked Ron rudely.

"What? I'm just evening out the playing field. Now she has three Slytherins and three Gryffindors on her side. You can't make a grand entrance with lopsided bodyguards," he said with a dramatic bow.

She giggled quietly before she straightened her shoulders and walked purposefully towards the hall. When the unlikely party entered, conversation stopped. All eyes were on them, even the teachers. She stared back defiantly and dared someone to say something. People turned back, their voices a low buzzing. The Slytherins and her Gryffindor friends broke off and sat at their own tables while she and Draco took their spots at the Head Table.

"Well that went better than I thought," said Draco while spooning mashed potatoes on his plate.

"And what did you think would happen?" she asked while pouring her pumpkin juice.

He shrugged. "I was kind of hoping Pansy would faint or something."

She laughed the sound echoing throughout the hall. "That's terrible but would have been hilarious."

They ate dinner together good naturedly. Snape was at the table but Hermione didn't notice. Just before she finished, he came up behind her and tapped her shoulder gently.

"May I have a word with you and Draco in my office after dinner?" he said, using a kind tone she had never heard before.

She nodded, heart thumping while Draco agreed. He glanced at Hermione before striding out of the hall through a side door.

Draco leaned towards her and out of sight under the table, grabbed her hand. "Relax; if he was angry or upset, he would have demanded to speak instead of ask."

She squeezed his hand in thanks before removing it and standing up. He stood with her and they swiftly moved towards the doors. They hurried to Snape's office and knocked on the door. It opened on its own and they stepped inside. It was much cozier than Hermione expected. There were two dark green overstuffed chairs in front of a large mahogany desk. The desk was littered with parchments, potion vials and quills but all stacked neatly. There were few personal objects, but Hermione did see a small picture of her birth mother in the corner by the wall. Snape was sitting in a large throne like chair covered in green velvet.

"First off, thank you Draco for what you did. Your father agreed that it was the best thing to do in this situation. The reason I asked you here is because we need to figure out where we go from here. It is only a matter of time before the Daily Prophet gets wind of this. I can assure you that several students have probably owled their parents and word will get to Rita Skeeter. And we all know how that bug will react."

"Erm...Professor? She cannot write anything slanderous or untrue about me. Even in speculation. She has to have cold hard facts," said Hermione with a strangely Slytherin smirk.

Snape raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to continue.

"Well, in Fourth Year I got sick of the garbage she wrote about myself and my friends during the Tri Wizard Tournament. I found out that she was an unregistered animagus and may have kept het in a jar for...oh six months? Then I demanded a Wizard Oath forcing her to use fact when reporting about me or my friends."

Snape stared at her for a few moments before bursting into laughter. She had never seen him laugh before and it was hard not to laugh also. She settled for a triumphant grin.

"You are just like Amaryllis. She would have done the same thing. Good work. But in all seriousness, we need to make some sort of statement before false stories are spread. And it is only a matter of time until the DuLaine family is notified."

"What can we do? My private life is just that. Private. Having my business splashed all over a newspaper for gossip mongers is something I never want to go through again. I don't want to have to search my letters for bobotuber pus again."

"Unfortunately Ms. Granger, a press release would be prudent and help stop many rumors in their tracks. Since you already have a guarantee that Skeeter will not post slander, we can use her."

Dinner was in full swing when the Daily Prophet owls came through. Since the Prophet rarely came out with an evening edition, students were crammed around friends that subscribed.

_A FAMILY LOST AND ANOTHER GAINED  
by Rita Skeeter_

_Nearly two years ago Hermione Granger lost it all. In a terrible muggle car accident, Mark and Emily Granger passed away leaving their grieving sixteen year old daughter Hermione Granger an orphan. She was lovingly taken in by the Pureblood Brown family but they could never replace the family that was so cruelly taken from her._

_In an exclusive interview, Ms. Granger revealed that not all was lost. During a routine potions assignment Ms. Granger discovered that she was adopted._

_Who are her birth parents you ask? None other than Potions Master Severus Snape and lost heiress Amaryllis DuLaine._

_"When the names were revealed after taking a Lineage Potion I was shocked. I ended up fainting in class," said Ms. Granger when asked how she found out._

_Severus Snape was also present for our interview and answered a few of my questions._

_"I had no idea. When Amaryllis went missing I was frantic. I eventually gave up but it took almost ten years to resign myself to the fact that she was gone."_

_From the misty look in his eyes and the abject misery painted over his features it was obvious to this reporter that Severus Snape deeply loves Amaryllis DuLaine. Not loved, but loves her, even today._

_I asked the newfound father and daughter how they will move forward with this new relationship. According to Ms. Granger, she is still mourning the death of her adoptive parents but has no ill will towards her birth mother and father._

_"He didn't know and she did what she thought was right." she said._

_"I have nothing but deep respect for the Grangers. They raised a kind hearted and brilliant young woman. They have my everlasting gratitude where ever they may be." said Severus Snape._

_Now we have to ask, what does the DuLaine family think of this new development? As of press time they have not responded to numerous owls and floo calls. This reporter promises to let all of you faithful readers know what happens next._


	6. Chapter 6

AN: I'm back! I know its been a while, but there were a lot of things going on in real life. My husband finally returned from Afghanistan and I had surgery two weeks ago so writing has fallen by the wayside. Before we get on with the story, I would like everyone to take a moment and direct their thoughts to those killed and injured yesterday in Boston and their families.

sxsxsx

The first potions class after the article came out what stressful for both Hermione and her birth father. Students were bombarding Hermione with questions and also keeping a sharp eye on their teacher, waiting for him to slip and show any sort of preferential treatment. Several of the more staunch purebloods were glaring at Hermione, still angry because they were sure she had faked it. Others were plotting ways to get into her good graces and therefore the good graces of the DuLaine family.

"This is ridiculous," she whispered to Draco as she stirred their potion. Draco tossed in the required ground amber before answering her.

"It will be like this for a while. Just ignore them. Right now you are nothing more than a shiny new toy to them."

She rolled her eyes before going back to their assignment. This particular potion was called the Firefly Draught. It was used by law enforcement to light the way through dark rooms and corridors. Unlike a Lumos, it could not be seen by anyone but the one who threw the vial. They worked quietly for the rest of the class and when their potion turned the proper luminescent blue, they bottled it and turned it in. Hermione was walking back to the desk when without warning she fell forward. She landed on a cauldron and some of the potion spashed onto her robes and arms. Instantly, the fabric of her robes started smoking and the skin underneath started to blister and burn. She screamed in pain, unable to push herself off of the ground. Draco rushed to her side, picking her up bridal style. Snape had taken one look at the potion in the cauldron and summoned several bottles from his store room.

"No time to get her to the hospital wing. We need to treat her here," he said. He liberally applied several salves and pastes, vanishing her outer robes to prevent more potion from burning her. Luckily she was able to keep her modesty since it only burned her legs and arms. As soon as she was treated, Snape rounded on the pair who brewed the potion.

"Do you mind telling me why you have brewed a Flesh Eating potion? As a matter of fact, where did you get the formula? Explain to me this instant," he growled, fury painted on his features. The students were Daphne Greengrass and Marc Finster. Daphne looked horrified at what happened. "P-professor I didn't know. I forgot my book and Marc was the one who told me what to do. I didn't think to look at what everyone else was doing because I have enough trouble with potions. I was just concentrating and trying to make sure I was following the directions. I'm sorry," she said, in tears by the end of her ramble.

"Professor, I saw Finster cast a tripping jinx when she walked by," said Theo Nott who was sitting behind the pair. Draco snarled, still holding Hermione tightly. He rounded on Marc. The boy stared back haughtily, his ice blue eyes sinister.

"She is under the protection of my family. You have brought harm to the Malfoy's and will pay the punishment. I understand that your family had gotten you a lucrative position at the ministry. Your father is on the Wizenagamot and when he stepped down you would take his place. You are hereby blacklisted. From not just the Ministry, but Pureblood society," said Draco. White light shot from his wand towards Marc Finster, binding the punishment. Aside from death, it was the worst punishment a pureblood could receive. With his banishment, his father loses political standing and the Wizenagamot would have no control of the seat left behind. The public would be allowed to vote on his replacement and no one could cheat the system. Being blacklisted from society basically means that the family would lose everything. Connections were worth more than a vault full of galleons and now the family had none. Hermione thought it was harsh but she wasn't feeling very charitable. Her arms still felt like they were on fire and she could not move her hands. She whimpered, still in pain.

"Draco, Potter: take her to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey will be able to finish the healing," said Snape. He grabbed Marc by the collar and started dragging him out of the room. Almost absentmindedly, he flicked his wand and everything in the room went back to order and the cauldrons emptied.

"Class dismissed!"

Hermione spent the rest of the morning in the hospital wing. She had a foul smelling paste liberally applied to her hands and arms and they were wrapped in gauze. By the time lunch rolled around, her hands were as good as new. Because the incident in potions was deliberate, Madam Pomfrey asked Ron and Harry to escort her to the Great Hall for lunch. Ron spent the walk figuring out ways to torture Marc Finster.

"-shrinking potion in his underwear. It would be brilliant! He struts around bragging about his conquests so that would put a damper on his whoring around. Or maybe we could modify it to make it permanant. You're brilliant Mione I bet you could figure out how to do it!"

Harry and Hermione snickered, breifly inagining it but both decided to let Ron continue on that tangent. He was getting quite creative in his musings.

They reached the Great Hall and stepped through the doors. Hermione glanced at the Slytherin table, not seeing Draco seated in his usual spot. She shrugged and sat next to Harry. Ron's plate wa already loaded and he was shoveling food down his throat very quickly. Harry and Hermione exchanged slight grimaces before settling down to eat at a more sedate pace.

Harry reached into his bag and grabbed a sheaf of parchments. He glanced at them before handing them over to Hermione. "I got these from Padma Patil. She said she is in all of your classes so she took the notes and copied them."

"Thanks Harry! I hate that I have been missing classes so early in the year."

"Nogfoncres," mumbled Ron around a mouthful of food.

Hermione glared at him. He swallowed quickly before repeating himself. "No one cares, they know you're ahead anyway.

"But it's not a good example to set. As Head Girl, I should not be missing any classes," she argued.

"Hermione, this isn't exactly a normal year for you. The teachers and the students understand," said Harry.

The trio finished their lunch soon after and were just about to stand and leave for their next class when a ripple of excitement travelled throughout the hall. The Slytherins gaped, unable to believe what they saw and so did many of the Purebloods.

"Bloody fuck, it's the DuLaines!" Ron exclaimed in a whisper. Hermione whipped her head around and got her first look at the couple standing in the doorway.

The man who she assumed was her maternal grandfather was a tall, distinguished gentleman. His hair was the same dark brown as hers, but touched with grey at the temples. He had a neatly trimmed moustache and bright blue eyes. Even though he had to be over sixty, he was still very handsome. His eyes were scanning the crowd and soon locked on hers. He paled, eyes widening in shock. He subtly motioned for his wife and nodded his head in her direction. Her grandmother turned towards her and her reaction was more obvious. Her green eyes got glassy and her hand went to cover her mouth, which had dropped open. Her blonde hair was cut in a stylish bob, sleek and shiny with no hint of grey. She barely looked a day over forty.

They started to walk towards her but were intercepted by Dumbledore. He held a whispered conversation with them and with a nod from both, he led them out of the Great Hall. Snape came up behind her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"We must go to the Headmaster's office. We do not want or need any public confrontation. I will be with you the whole time, as will Narcissa Malfoy. Since you are under the protection of her family, we felt it would be good to have a female presence on your side."

She look at her father, confused. "How could she possibly get here in time? They just showed up."

"Albus felt them cross the wards twenty minutes ago. We have been trying to get everything together before they showed. We didn't get a chance to warn you and for that I am sorry."

She shrugged her shoulders, not really sure what to say and followed Snape to Dumbledore's office. They reached the gargoyle and with a mumbled "fizzing whizbee" they were granted entry.

The spiral stairs seemed to go on forever and Hermione's nerves were starting to get to her. From what she had heard, her maternal grandparents were the elite of the elite when it came to Purebloods and were also considered the most racist. She was terrified of this meeting. She started to shake as they reached the large oak doors that guarded the Headmaster's office.

"Please relax. I promise you, nothing will happen," said Snape as soothingly as he could. She nodded before taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders. Snape knocked twice before they entered the chamber.

She saw Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, looking silently over his half moon glasses. Narcissa Malfoy sat primly in a dark blue wingback chair, two empty chairs beside her. Across from her sat her grandparents, both on them looking down and the floor with their hands clasped together. Her grandmother looked up at her and she saw her hand tighten in her grandfather's grasp. She watches as he lovingly stroked his thumb over her whitened knuckles. The small gesture confused Hermione, who expected nothing but cold, empty faces and rigid formality.

"Miss Granger, Severus, thank you for joining us. Please have a seat. Lemon drops?" asked Dumbledore, gesturing to a bowl of the yellow candies. They both declined and took their seats, Hermione flanked by Narcissa and Snape. Dumbledore smiled happily at the group before finally speaking up.

"Well, I am sure we all know why we are here. Mister and Madam DuLaine are interested in getting to know their granddaughter. Severus is here because he wants to make sure that Hermione feels safe and Narcissa Malfoy is here as a representative of the Malfoy family, who has Hermione under their protection."

"Excuse me Lady Malfoy, but why is my granddaughter under your protection?" Mr. DuLaine asked; his brow furrowed.

"Severus is a dear friend of our family and Amaryllis was my best friend. When we found out that Miss Granger was their child, my son Draco felt it necessary to make sure she was protected. She had been raised muggleborn and had a hand in defeating the Dark Lord. Society will be and is in an uproar. We do not want her harmed."

"Unfortunately, one bumbling moron already hurt her. This morning actually. Draco took care of it beautifully Cissa. You would be proud," said Snape, not looking at the DuLaines. Lady Dulaine gasped and Dumbledore informed those not involved about what happened. Narcissa smiled triumphantly at her son's punishment while double checking Hermione's arms.

"Do we...do we know what happened to my daughter? Where she is buried?" asked Lady DuLaine.

"What makes you think she is dead?" Hermione asked.

"Our family was cursed long ago. In order to stay alive, you must be married by your nineteenth birthday. From what we gathered in old family notes, we were cursed by a scorned lover of my five times great grandfather. He had an affair with a young woman when he was nineteen and when she became pregnant he left her," said her grandfather.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "No one has been able to break this curse?"

"Unfortunately, she cursed the family on her deathbed. Death curses are near impossible to break."

"We will get to that nonsense about marriage in a minute. Because there is no way in hell I will marry before I'm good and ready. No curse is going to force me into that. As for my birth mother, she is alive. From what Professor Snape has told me, she was older than nineteen when I was born so obviously, there are loopholes in said curse," spat Hermione, anger obvious in her features. Dumbledore and Snape knew it to be anger about the curse but no one else understood it.

"My daughter is alive?" said Lady DuLaine, almost inaudibly.

"She is. Headmaster, may I summon Dobby to get something for me?" asked Hermione. Before Albus could answer, a loud crack sounded in the room. Dobby appeared wearing a blue and green paisley sock on his left foot and a red and orange plaid sock on the other.

"Missy Granger called for Dobby?"

Hermione asked the little elf to retrieve the necklace from her room along with the picture and letter. Within seconds, he was back and handed them over. When he caught a glimpse of Narcissa, he squeaked before tripping and disapparating back to the kitchens. Hermione raised an eyebrow at Narcissa, who shrugged delicately before turning back to the DuLaines. Hermione handed the necklace, picture and letter over and sat quietly while they examined what their granddaughter gave them. She knew the second they finished, their eyes darting towards the stone. Lady DuLaine started to cry quietly, her husband conjuring a handkerchief for her to wipe her eyes.

"How is this possible? As far as we know she was never married," said Mr. DuLaine while looking at Snape.

"We never married. She disappeared soon after Hogwarts was over and I never heard from her again. I didn't know she was pregnant."

"Have you called her using the pendant Ms. Granger?" asked Narcissa, already knowing the answer but asking for the sake of the DuLaines.

"No, not yet. Everything is...overwhelming. I'm still mourning the death of my parents and having all this thrust upon me in such a short amount of time is too much. I'm kind of afraid to see her and have more on my hands," she admitted quietly, staring at her feet.

She saw her grandfather from the corner of her vision opening his mouth, probably to request that his daughter be summoned. His wife placed a hand on his shoulder, silently telling him to be quiet.

"We understand. As much as we want to see her, there is too much bad blood for us to be together without a fight. It may not seem like it Hermione, but we regret everything we ever did in regards to the Dark Arts. The last eighteen years have been eye opening for us. Losing Amaryllis was a blow that knocked us to our knees. Purebloods have always put family first. At least that is how it was until Lord Voldemort came to power. After that...things just.." she trailed off, her eyes not really seeing anything but the past.

"They changed Hermione. Lucius and I also experienced it with our parents. We became objects. Objects that were good for nothing but keeping up Pureblood lifestyles and eradicating anything less than us. Halfbloods were an abomination and Muggleborns were worse than the scum beneath our feet. Tom Riddle turned Pureblood Society on its head. He enhanced the negative aspects and ran with it, promising the one thing many people crave: power."

"Even now, with him gone forever, his teachings linger. You see it in the way some of the more staunch Purebloods act. I'm sure you know of several Pureblood marriages taking place this summer. It is not unusual for marriages to be arranged but it is unusual for them to be married so early. Most usually allow the bride and groom to finish out their teenage years. At least that's how it was before Tom Riddle," said Dumbledore seriously.

"He wanted more Pureblood births. Squib births and miscarriages are still very high and he knew that. He needed more followers because there aren't many Pureblood families left and almost all are related in some ways," said Snape.

"The curse was the main reason we arranged the marriage for Amaryllis. The Dark Lord was the other. Of course we knew of the relationship between Severus and our daughter, but due to our following the Dark Lord we needed her wed to a Pureblood. It was required of us." Her grandfather looked down, shame clearly written in his face.

"Why in the world would you follow such a vile man? From what I understand, the DuLaine family is notoriously powerful."

"He killed our son. Amaryllis was a twin."


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Here is the next chapter of Watch The Sky. This fic will update slower than One Eighty by Summer and for that I apologize. Unfortunately, real life is a kicker lately so I have less time to write. I will also be using Twitter more religiously than I have in the past. My twitter name is ChrissyCasualty

* * *

Hermione sat in her room that night, quietly contemplating everything that was revealed during her meeting with the DuLaines. Part of her was still so very angry at what her grandparents did but another part of her hurt for them. Her grandmother was in her 36th week of pregnancy when Tom Riddle paid them a visit. When they refused his demands, he Crucioed her grandmother, causing her to go into early labor. Her uncle only took one breath before passing away, the curse too much for his little body. Her birth mother barely survived and Tom Riddle gained the terrified support of her grandparents. She could understand why they sided with him, fear of losing their other child to him the reason why.

Their meeting ended shortly after. Before they left, her grandparents handed her a key to a Gringotts vault. They explained that it became hers on her seventeenth birthday, per the tradition of their family. They set it up with the goblins once they knew of her existance. They also handed her several parchments that showed the contents of the vault. She has yet to look at it, afraid to see what was in it. Her parents were both dentists and were well known in their field. They were the go to dental surgeons for the royal family and they had several celebrity clients so they were very well off. After their death, Hermione never needed to worry about money. She was still frugal though and wanted to work after school and prove herself. They money was nice to have but she barely touched it.

A knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts. She padded on stockinged feet to her door and saw Harry, Ron, Ginny, Lavender and Draco on the other side.

"Hermione?" said Harry, all of his questions asked in just the sound of her name.

"Come on, lets go to the common room and I'll explain everything," she said quietly. The troupe headed towards the couches and chairs. Harry and Ron sat on either side on her on the couch while Ginny and Lavender took the chairs. Draco stood near the fireplace. His robes were off and the first couple of button undone on his while collared shirt. He had the sleeves rolled up and his arms were crossed. Hermione caught herself staring at his toned forearms and shook her head to clear the fog before anyone noticed. She told everyone everything about the meeting that day. The girls wept when they heard about her uncle's death and the boys clenched their fists at the horror of it. Draco reiterated everything that was said about Pureblood society, saying that he was engaged to Pansy at one point. He did not explain why it was broken off or about his unknown fiancée.

"Get the Gringotts papers 'Mione. Might as well know what you're in for," said Ron, eager to know her riches. Not because he was jealous, but because he was notoriously nosy and everyone knew it. She summoned the parchment from her room and everyone crowded around.

"Bloody fuck Hermione!"

"Oh Merlin, that is a lot of zeroes."

"You could buy a Quidditch team or five with that!"

Hermione stared in shock. The amount in her vault was a pittance compared to what she inherited from her parents. "They must have given me everything they have," she gasped out.

"No, tradition dictates the grandparents give about fifteen percent of their liquid fortune to their grandchildren. That only covers galleons. The priceless paintings, jewels and whatnot are at their discretion," said Draco absentmindedly. He was reading over the vault specifications, making sure there were no hidden fees. The goblins loved to do that. Greedy buggers.

Hermione's eyes grew wide. "This is only a percentage? That's preposterous. This is more than the yearly Ministry budget!"

"Leave it to Hermione to know the ministry budget," mumbled Ron. Ginny smacked him upside the head. Hermione was quiet. Her face had paled and her hands were shaking slightly. Draco placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I..I don't know. This is too much. How can someone have this much money? I couldn't spend this much in five lifetimes if I tried. What do I do with it?"

"You do whatever you want."

She shook her head. "I already have the money from my parents. It was nothing like this but even if I only had that, I would never have to work. And now all this..."

Draco took the parchments from her and banished them to her room. "Stop worrying. If it bothers you that much, open a charity for underpriviliged unicorns or something."

Draco's sarcastic comment brought a lighter mood to the room. Everyone laughed while Hermione rolled her eyes. The motley group spent the rest of the evening catching up on homework, Ron groaning in annoyance and mumbling under his breath most of the time. Before long, curfew was upon them and everyone left.

Hermione came back from the portrait hole, watching Draco wave his wand to clear up the spare bits of parchment and a few broken quills, courtesy of Ron.

"Does he always make such a mess while doing homework?" he asked, shaking his head at the pile of rubbish.

"This was actually pretty clean. Usually he works with Seamus and something always ends up on fire."

"That Irish twit is a menace. How do you manage to light a fire when casting a spell to create water? Preposterous."

Hermione giggled. She agreed, but knew Seamus did half of the fires and explosions for fun. The boy was the ultimate pyromaniac. The Head students finished tidying and bid each other good night. She drifted to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

"Come on guys, its a bloody Boggart, not the boogey man!," shouted Sirius...er, Professor Black. He was reviewing major lesson points from years one through four and they were currently re-learning Boggarts. Sirius roamed the school and managed to capture four of them and had students in each corner of the room fighting them off. Unfortunately, many students were too busy laughing at some of the transformations and soon it was getting out of hand. Sirius trapped the creatures in their respective cabinets before rounding on his pupils.

"As much as I enjoyed seeing dementors in tutus and toothless vampires, you are not taking this seriously enough. Because of the spotty teaching your first few years, many of you are going to score low or fail your NEWT. I know damn well that several of you want to be Aurors or Curse Breakers and you NEED to have an Outstanding NEWT to even be considered. Now smarten up or I will fail you for spite."

"You can't be serious," said a haughty Pansy Parkinson.

"Actually, I am. Class dismissed," he snapped, throwing his hands up.

Hermione stayed back, knowing she was one of the few people who were able to calm the animagus. "Bad day?"

He slouched in his chair, throwing his feet up on his desk. "Yeah, nothing for you to worry about. I just want my students to pass. It would look bad to have everyone fail their NEWTS during my first year of teaching," he said with a bitter grin.

Hermione didn't think, she just wrapped her arms around Sirius. "You are a wonderful teacher. They're probably testing you. Except for Lupin, we had never had a teacher for more than a year. Believe me, once they realize how amazing you are, the classes will flourish."

"Ahem."

Hermione jumped away from Sirius. "It's not what-"

"I know," said Professor McGonagall, "this does not look right. You are lucky it is just me. We have members of the school board here today. Please keep the lovey dovey support hugs for home." Both Hermione and Sirius looked at the floor, small smirks on both of their faces. Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes but patted both of them on the shoulder before sweeping gracefully out of the room.

The next few days flew by. The Board of Directors for the school monitored a few classes and ate their meals with the students. No one knew why they were there. Hermione and Draco had hoped they would speak during dinner but they never said anything noteworthy. The teachers were slightly anxious, but the Headmaster told them not to worry. Only he knew why they were there and in typical Dumbledore fashion, he didn't say anything but his eyes twinkled.

It was one week later when Dumbledore stood up during dinner to make an announcement. Every student was to be in attendance, which was unusual. Some students rarely stayed the entire meal but the Headmaster charmed the door so that none would leave.

"Good evening pupils. I know many of you are wondering why we are all required to be here on this beautiful Friday night. As you noticed, the Board of Directors was here for a few days monitoring classes. The reason for that was to see how the curriculum compared to other magical schools. I can gladly say that we passed with flying colors. The best part of our passing is now we are able to participate in an exchange program!" Many of the students gasped, excitement apparent on many features. "The Board and the Ministry have agreed that Fifth Years and Seventh Years will spend one month at the American Academy of Magical Arts. The school is located in Dutchess County New York which is about two hours from New York City. It is not far from the Catskill Mountains, where there is an abundance of magical plant life. Travel is being arranged as we speak and more information will be handed out in the coming week. If your parents want to know the town the school is located near, the school is in a small town called Rhinebeck, New York. You are all dismissed."

Everyone stood to leave, the hall buzzing with excitement from the fifth and seventh years and groans of disappointment from the other years. Hermione caught up with Harry and Ron, quickly falling into step with them.

"'Mione! America!" shouted Ron. She giggled at his boyish enthusiasm. She knew that the school would pay for everything and so did Ron. Otherwise, this would not have been possible for him. The Weasley family was better off now after the defeat of Voldemort due to their role, but they were still barely above poverty. She and Harry babbled on with him about what they would do and see. Hermione couldn't wait to collect rare potion ingredients in the mountains. Harry wanted to fly over the New York City skyline. And Ron...Ron wanted to eat in Chinatown and Little Italy. Ever since he read about the abundance of food in New York City in one of his Quidditch magazines he has wanted to go. Hermione mentally rolled her eyes but Ron was Ron.

The days and weeks flew by and before she knew it Halloween was upon them. The plans for the exchange program were finalized and letters had been sent to parents and guardians. Instead of returning to school after winter holidays, the fifth and seventh years will be taking a floo train to the American ministry and then a private magical train to the American Academy of Magical Arts. Instead of one month, it was decided that they will stay there until the spring holidays and return to school in time to review for OWLS and NEWTS. There would be several school field trips to different magical areas and there will also be several weekends for the seventh years to explore on their own. The fifth years would have separate weekends with chaperones. After tonight's Halloween feast, the exchange students will be meeting with the teachers to go over final details.

In the weeks leading up to Halloween, Hermione and her group spent hours upon hours researching the curse placed upon her maternal family. Draco had owled his father asking for some more obscure texts but nothing was being found. Hermione decided to take a night off and just enjoy the feast, trying not to let the fact that she could be dead in less than a year affect her.

The feast was loud and boisterous. Students were having a blast with the charmed muggle decorations that littered the room. There were green witches cackling on brooms and dancing jack O lanterns that sang silly songs. Students were allowed to sit at other tables so everywhere you looked you saw mixed uniform colors. Many Slytherins were still together but you could see the yellow ties of the Hufflepuffs or the blue of Ravenclaw mixed in.

Draco spent the first part of the meal with his friends but soon moved to sit with the Gryffindors. By now, the sight was not unusual and no one spared a glance at the odd grouping. Harry and Draco were arguing Quidditch facts while Ron was helping Ginny with plays for the upcoming Quidditch match. Daphne Greengrass had wandered over to ask Hermione about a potions essay due in two days. They had somehow got into the discussion of Pureblood traditions when something Daphne said stopped her in her tracks.

"The rise in Squib birth is pretty recent. So many families now only have one child so many of the traditions do not apply much anymore. A lot of the charms on families only apply to the firstborn. Inheriting properties and vaults, charms to prevent illegitimate children and all of that," said Daphne, absentmindedly swirling the frosting on her cake.

"Ob Merlin that's it!" Hermione shouted, startling the group around her.

"That's what?" asked Harry.

"The reason my mother was not affected by the curse! She didn't die when she was nineteen because she was not the firstborn."

"But Hermione, your uncle died as a baby," said Ron delicately, trying for once to be tactful.

"He took a breath before he passed. The curse attached itself to him with hia first breath. It would not apply to me because I was born of my mother. The curse died out. Remember what Bill said?"

"Once a family curse attaches itself to the next in line, ot cannot attach to anyone else in that family if it goes against the original curse. The curse itself cannot evolve on its own, the magic will not allow it," said Harry. Harry was taking Curse Breaking seriously and studied everything Bill Weasley gave him religiously.

"Daphne you are a bloody genius," raved Hermione, throwing her arms around the confused blonde. "I have to tell my Dad."

Hermione jumped up from the table, not noticing the significance of what she said. But everyone around her did and so did Severus Snape, who was standing within earshot. For the first time in anyone's memory, the black haired Potions Master smiled.

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AN: Awww! She called him Dad. Rhinebeck, NY is a real place and means the world to me. I spent many summers there and it changed my life. If you live near or in that area...you bet your butts I will be having Hogwarts students at Holy Cow Ice Cream. That place is beast. Review and let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

BN: I am sooooo sorry this is a bad Beta notice, because it's close to finals week I have had this chapter in my inbox for a few days... don't blame Chrissy it's all my fault!

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Hermione was a few steps away from the table when she realized what she said. She called Professor Snape "Dad." She also realized that she had never called her adoptive father dad, only daddy. Her muggle friends would tease her about it, but he was always daddy. The fact that she called Snape dad didn't actually bother her. It felt...right. She spotted him a table away and by the small smile on his face she knew he heard her. She grinned to herself before scampering over to him.

"I'm not going to die!" she said with glee. He quirked an eyebrow.

"Really?" he drawled, secretly pleased she found a way around that blasted curse. She was so bloody smart. Just like Amaryllis. Just like him.

She quickly explained the conversation with Daphne and the research she did about the curse and Curse Breaking in general. Once again, pride filled Severus; pride for his child.

"If you want, I will owl your maternal grandparents with the news," he offered. She tilted her head, thinking for a moment.

"No, that's okay. I can do it. I meant to owl them before now but with everything going on, it slipped my mind. Do you think they would be happy to hear from me?" she asked, a bit of self doubt creeping into her tone.

"They would love to hear from you. After you left the Headmaster's office that night we spoke. We talked through many of our issues. Especially about the relationship between your moth-...Amaryllis and me."

"You can call her my mother," she said quietly. "I don't mind."

He subtly lead them towards to door of the Great Hall, too many students realizing that they were talking and were starting to get too curious for their own good. She followed him out and they went a ways down the hall, the sounds of the students still audible but far enough away for them to talk.

"I want to know how you are coping. I understand that this is a lot to take in. I am sure that the school year has not been easy on you. Actually, the last few years in general."

"Honestly? I'm doing okay. It has been an adjustment. Being muggleborn was a huge part of my life here and to have that change is disconcerting. But I am still me, no matter the content of my blood. As for Amaryllis...I want to contact her before we leave to America. I don't want it hanging over me while I'm supposed to be appreciating another school."

"Are you sure?" asked Severus, making sure his anxiousness didn't show on his face. As much as he was hurt by Amaryllis's actions, he understood them and could never begrudge her for what she did. She did what she could to keep their child and him safe. He wanted to see her. Oh Merlin did he want to see her.

"I'm sure. I don't know how long it will take for her to arrive or how exactly the stone works, but I would like to use it tonight."

Severus nodded his head and suggested she wait until after the exchange program meeting. She agreed and they walked back to the Great Hall together. Within minutes, the students not participating in the exchange program left the hall and went back to their common rooms. The meeting went by quickly, supply lists and instructions for students handed out and questions answered by the professors. Hermione had told Draco, Harry and Ron her plans when she came back to the Great Hall and all of them wanted to be with her. Her dad must have told Dumbledore because when everyone came back to the Head Dorms, the Headmaster was there along with Severus Snape.

"Well Miss Granger, are you ready?" Dumbledore asked kindly.

She nodded and jogged up to her room, grabbing the necklace tightly in her fist. She kept her mind blank, not wanting to summon her birth mother without her friends there with her. She sat down on the couch, her dad and Harry on either side of her. Draco stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder, giving her his silent support. Ron paced in front of the fire and Dumbledore sat quietly, happily sucking on a lemon drop.

Hermione took a deep breath before clutching the amulet in her hand. She thought her mother's name and also whispered it out loud.

"Amaryllis DuLaine."

The stone grew almost uncomfortably warm in her hand and started to glow. Within seconds it grew cold again. She opened her hand and was shocked to see a pink diamond in her hand.

"She was always so good at charms and transfiguration," mused Dumbledore. "The necklace belonged to your grandmother am I correct Severus?"

Snape nodded dumbly, staring at the trinket he had not seen in nearly twenty years.

"Ah, we have a visitor at the gates," he said. "Please excuse me for a few minutes, I must allow our guest entry."

Both Hermione and her dad went pale, Snape looking sickly. Neither of them expected for her to come so quickly.

Draco was still standing behind Hermione, absentmindedly stroking his thumb over the back of her neck. He didn't realize he was doing it, but Harry saw. He caught Potter's eye, confused at the bewildered but knowing look in his green eyes. His attraction to Hermione was growing by the day and a tiny part of him was hoping she felt it too. They had spent hours together researching her family curse and performing Head duties. Sometimes he would catch her staring but she would always look away, shaking her head as if to dismiss whatever thoughts were in her head. He had also seen her look angry when Pansy had thrown herself at him one day during lunch. He had disentangled himself from her bony arms rather quickly, but Hermione had stormed off, muttering something about pugs and stunning curses.

He was brought back to the present by the sound of the dorm door opening. Hermione tensed and he squeezed her shoulder gently. She relaxed a little bit and she saw her hand gripping his Godfather's. From the looks of it, Sev was squeezing back just as tightly. His lips turned up in a barely there smile. His Godfather was a great man and he was glad that he had found his daughter.

Draco watched as Dumbldore stepped through, assisting the slight woman with him by placing a hand on the small of her back. She was dressed rather plain, a pair of dark grey trousers and a slight pink button down shirt. She had on dark grey flats and her wild hair was tamed by a pink headband. When she looked up, she went still. Tears immediately formed and trailed down her cheeks. Even though he had seen a picture of her, Draco was still amazed at the startling resemblance to his Hermione. Draco was looking at Hermione twenty years from now. She was a few inches shorter than Hermione but that and the eyes were the only difference between the two.

"Ammy?" whispered Severus. Her eyes flew to him and her knees buckled, causing Dumbledore to have to hold her up. Severus stood, walking slowly to her, his eyes glassy with the tears he refused to shed. She stepped towards him and it was like they were never separated. Amaryllis was clutching his robes, her face buried in his chest. He had his arms tightly around her, his face lost in the sea of curls that he had so desperately missed.

The students waited awkwardly, not sure how they felt about their stern and sometimes downright mean Potions Master breaking down in front of them. It was a side none except Draco had ever seen before. They could hear muffled "I'm sorry's" coming from both of the figures by the door and sniffles from them too. Draco leaned down towards Hermione, his lips brushing her ear. "Are you alright?" he whispered.

She nodded, visibly shivering at how it felt to have him so close. She cursed herself for her attraction to him, knowing he was taken and still her traitor heart raced. She didn't see the satisfied smirk that graced Draco's face at her shiver. His chest nearly burst with pride. His suspicions were confirmed. It also sank because he knew he could never be with her. The magic of the unknown vow would not allow it. He wished he knew who his bride was. It bothered him that there was a vow out there tying him to someone he did not know.

The couple on the floor was brought out of their reunion by a loud sneezing fit from Ron. He had tried to take a peek at a Transfiguration essay Hermione had laying out on the table. Hermione, knowing her friend, had charmed the page to be an allergy to Ron.

"Bloody hell Hermione, why do you keep doing that!" shouted the redhead between sneezes.

"Because you like to use my homework more than is appropriate Ronald. You are seventeen, you can write your own essays," she said primly, finally taking her eyes off of her birth mother.

Amaryllis looked up, stunned. "Your...your name is Hermione?" she stuttered. Hermione nodded shyly before responding.

"My Mum...my adoptive mother decided to keep the only name I had known and just add their surname. My full name is Hermione Jean Granger."

Amaryllis stepped closer, drinking in the sight of the daughter she had not seen in nearly eighteen years. She couldn't believe how beautiful she had grown.

"Where have you been all these years? Voldemort has been dead and gone for almost three years now. Why haven't you contacted my dad? I know you were no where in the Wizarding world, I looked. I am very good at getting answers and it was like you disappeared," said Hermione, rapidly firing off her questions. She couldn't afford to break down. She had broken down too many times over the last few years. Amaryllis didn't even flinch. She expected those questions and many more.

"I have been in the States. I cast a modified memory charms on myself, locking away everything about my previous life. I set the spell to trigger the second I was touched by someone of non magical blood. I orchestrated a car accident on a country road, close enough to a village so that I would be found quickly. I was and it was determined that I suffered from amnesia and was unable to remember a thing about myself."

"But Ammy, the Dark Lord had the muggle world scoured for you. There would have been news reports of you being found and not knowing who you were. You picture would have been in the papers," said Severus.

"I know, I glamoured myself to look different. The minute Hermione used the necklace, the charm was broken. Until now, my hair was a dirty blonde and I was about four inches taller. I also had rounder features. There was no way to tell." She reached into her purse and pulled out an ID card. The card was for Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. She was a labor and delivery nurse for the hospital. The photo on the card looked nothing like the woman before her.

"Bloody hell 'Mione, she's better at human transfiguration than you are," blurted Ron.

"She said 'glamour' Ronald, not human transfiguration. Glamours do not wear off unless it is willed by the caster. Human transfiguration wears off due to the body's natural cell regeneration. We learned this a week ago," Hermione stated, going into educational mode.

Harry snorted, knowing that Ron was too busy flirting with Parvati Patil during that particular lesson. Snape muttered something about bumbling gingers, causing the room's occupants to try and smother their laughter.

"Crazy old bat..." whispered Ron.

"Excuse me Mr. Weasley? Would you care to repeat that?"

"Er uh..." stuttered Ron. "I said er...silly old rat! Yeah, too bad Scabbers turned out to be a traitor human. He made a great uh...silly old um..rat!" he babbled.

Draco rolled his eyes at Weasley's idiocy. His eye roll caused Amaryllis to look more closely at him. Her eyes went wide. "Are you Narcissa's boy?" she asked.

Draco bowed slightly in greeting. "Yes Ma'am. My father is Lucius Malfoy."

Amaryllis grinned broadly, looking ten years younger. She started drilling Draco about his parents and how they were doing. They conversed for a while, Amaryllis taking note of the protective hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Are you betrothed Draco?" she asked randomly.

Draco stuttered a bit, but said he was. He didn't offer any details about who he was engaged to.

"I remember walking in on your father and Severus one night, both drunk out of their minds. They both were babbling about how if they had a son and daughter how they would marry them off to each other. Severus babbled on about how no one but the son of Lucius would be good enough for his little girl. Lucius said he would be damned if his heir married anyone but the daughter of his 'best and greatest friend of all time.' They started toasting the future marriage of their children. I ended up leaving them to it. The next morning I 'accidently' spilled the last of the hangover potion." Amaryllis giggled, fondly remembering that night. Hermione saw her father grow pale, his eyes widening.

"Dad? What's wrong? Why do you look like that?" she asked, getting suspicious.

Amaryllis and Severus had always been close. So close that their minds were always open to each other and Legilimency took no effort whatsoever. Amaryllis barely glanced into the potion master's eyes and she saw everything. She gasped, her eyes widening.

"Sev...you didn't..."

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AN: short chapter, but this cold is kicking my butt! Sorry for the cliffy, but next chapter is the big reveal...well...big reveal for our two main characters. Obviously we know something they don't


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Another day, another chapter. Thank you for the kind reviews, I really do love them. A quick thanks to my beta Elizabeth, who deals with my nonsense on a fairly regular basis :)\

BN: AWWWWWWWWWWW

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They didn't call Hermione Granger the brightest witch of her age for nothing. With the look on both of her birth parents' face she knew.

"Like hell!" she shouted uncharacteristically. Everyone in the room jumped in surprise. Snape tried to speak but she interrupted. "No. Unless you are telling me that you and Lucius did NOT get drunk enough to Vow a wedding between Draco and me, don't say a damn thing," she said venomously. When Snape just bowed his head, Hermione stormed up to her room, the door slamming loudly.

"Dude...the last time she got that pissed off was when I stole her Charms notes and Seamus accidently set them on fire," whispered an awed Ron. "She isn't mad at me for once!" he cried happily. Harry snorted out a laugh and Draco rolled his eyes. The adults in the room smiled, but they were strained.

"I believe we need to set up a meeting with Lucius and Narcissa. I would wait until tomorrow, but I believe we can consider this an emergency," said a still serene Dumbledore. Fawkes flew in through the open window and took off with a letter that no one remembered seeing Dumbledore write. Within minutes, the flames were green and the elder Malfoy's stepped through. Narcissa ran straight for Amaryllis, her Pureblood mask gone and cried with her friend. Lucius nodded to the youngsters in the room and Ron choked on a lemon drop when the expected sneer didn't appear on Lucius's face. While Harry pounded on his best friend's back to dislodge the candy, Lucius turned towards his best friend.

"They know?" When Snape nodded, Lucius turned towards his son and asked how he felt.

"Honestly? Surprised. I can't say I'm angry because I have expected an arranged marriage. I know what is required of me because I was raised to expect it. Hermione Granger was at one point the bane of my existence but I have grown to respect her greatly in the last few years. Besides, she is a MUCH better prospect than Pansy Parkinson," he said with a wry grin.

"Yeah, you dodged a buttle with that one mate," said Ron.

"Bullet Ron...bullet," corrected Harry with a resigned sigh. Ron had been trying out muggle anecdotes lately to impress a muggleborn in Hufflepuff but failing miserably.

"You know, I expected you both to be freaking out and threatening bodily harm."

Both Harry and Ron shrugged and Harry answered. "It's magic. We may not pay a whole lot of attention in class but we know once a marriage Vow is made it cannot be undone. You have no fault here and you haven't been much of a wanker the last few years. Plus, Hermione is going to give you hell. It's going to be fun to watch," he said brightly.

Draco smirked and turned to his parents. "How long have you known?"

"We found out the same day Severus discovered who she was. We have been trying to find loopholes but coming up empty handed. We weren't trying to keep it from you. We were actually planning on telling you during Yule holidays," said Narcissa, still clinging tightly to Amaryllis.

"I had hoped that she would never have to go through with something like this. I can't really blame Severus or Lucius, none of us knew that a Vow could be made under those conditions. She seemed so angry," whispered Amaryllis, sadness etched into her features. Severus wrapped an arm around her, rubbing her arm in a soothing manner.

"Magic has many limitations but also many eccentricities that cannot be explained. Sometimes it seems like a living, breathing entity. Magic saw something during those 'drunken ramblings' that you did not and it clung to it. What it is, we do not know but perhaps it wasn't a mistake. Perhaps the magic of the world was trying to tell us something," Dumbledore said sagely.

"Can you possibly get anymore cryptic?" Ron asked rudely. "Ow! What the hell?" Harry elbowed him in the ribs.

"I could Mister Weasley, but I shall save that for another day. It is getting quite late and well past curfew. I will walk you both back to the Gryffindor dorms. We wouldn't want Mr. Filch to cause a ruckus. Miss DuLaine, you are welcome to stay in our guest suites. Tomorrow Miss Granger will probably apologize for her outburst and will want to sit and talk."

"Ten AM," Harry whispered to Ron.

"Nope, seven thirty," Ron whispered back.

"Two galleons?"

"Five."

"Done." Both boys shook hands before getting up and following the adults out of the room, waving goodbye to Draco.

The next morning Harry muttered profanities as he handed over the gold coins to Ron. Both boys had hidden under the invisibility cloak and stood by the Headmaster's office waiting for Hermione. At precisely seven thirty she rushed to the gargoyle and went up the stairs. They followed her and heard her apologize profusely for her actions the night before. They were caught when Ron whooped joyously. Ten points lost from Gryffindor was their punishment but Dumbledore was smiling as he took them away. He was used to the antics of Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley.

The Great Hall was buzzing loudly due to the woman at the teacher's table. Within minutes, everyone knew that it was Amaryllis, the missing heiress to the DuLaine fortune. A curious number of owls were leaving the Great Hall carrying letters, no doubt headed to the parents of society Purebloods. Draco was so close to exploding on the next person who claimed to be in the running for a betrothal to Hermione. The old Draco would have bragged about the Vow, but he knew that Hermione was not ready for the whole school to know. He sat in silence, fuming at the idiocy of his classmates.

"Mate, get the look off your face. Seriously, people are starting to mistake you for a basilisk," said Blaise as he sat beside him. The Italian grabbed a pastry off a nearby plate and shoved it into his mouth, spewing bits of strawberry as he continued speaking. "Why so angry? I can't recall anything happening to you except Pansy trying to sneak into the Head dorms wearing nothing but knickers and a top hat."

Draco gagged, remembering the incident a few days before. He had barely managed to escape her bony clutches. The bint had been trying for years to get into his pants, more so since their marriage would no longer happen. It didn't help that he was very...active. Not recently, but for the last few years Draco had been sowing his oats so to speak. He did not want Pansy Parkinson to be his only sexual contact. He refused her, saying he wanted to wait until marriage when in all honesty he didn't want to at all. Now that they were no longer betrothed, she figured he was fair game.

"Merlin no. That was probably the most vomit inducing sight I have ever seen. It's just...I found out who I am Vowed to," said Draco, lowering his voice. Blaise leaned in, wanting to know who the elusive woman was.

"It's Granger," he said as quietly as possible.

"HOLY SHITBALLS YOU'RE ENGAGED TO GRANGER?!" Every head in the Great Hall turned towards the Slytherin table. Draco smacked Blaise upside the head.

"You idiot!" he hissed. He heard a diamond shattering shriek come from further down the table.

"You filthy mudblood bitch! I'll fucking kill you," shouted Pansy, jumping across the table. Daphne and Astoria grabbed her and held on, both girls unable to hold in snorts of laughter. Theo Nott snatched Pansy's wand and cast a silencing charm. Professor Snape had already made his way through the crowd of students and took over the situation.

"Thank you Theodore. Astoria, Daphne: you can let her go." When they let go, Pansy tried to once again launch herself towards the Gryffindor table. She didn't seem to realize that Hermione wasn't even there. Draco headed towards the dorm, intending to let her know that the cat was out of the bag.

"She's in the library," said Harry. The black hired boy had managed to sneak up on him, Merlin knows how. The scarhead was about as subtle as a herd of elephants.

"How long has she been in there?"

Hary rolled his eyes. "Since about seven forty five. The girl would live there is she had the courage to bring food and water near her precious books." Draco thanked him and changed directions, aiming for the library. He made sure to avoid other students but this early in the morning he didn't have to try too hard. He walked through the doors and spied Madam Pince near the transfiguration section. A quick glance showed Hermione's schoolbag near the section on family magic. It took a few minutes, but he found her buried near the back of the stacks with her nose shoved in a large, dusty tome. He stepped closer and his footsteps startled her. She had her wand out in a fraction of a second.

"Merlin! Wear a bell next time, you scared me half to death," she said, closing the book. He saw that it was a book on Vows and the intricate magic they involved.

"Find anything useful?"

She blew her hair out of her face irritably. "No. Marriage Vows are the oldest and most powerful Vows there are. It is a form of an Unbreakable Vow. We are, for lack of a better term, screwed."

"Come on Granger, are you saying you don't want to get a piece of this?" he said dramatically, waving his hand over his body. He struck a ridiculous pose and held it, making sure she looked. He grinned inwardly as she blushed furiously. She didn't answer him but held out a hand so he could help her off of the floor.

"Put the books away. It is a Hogsmeade weekend. My parents want to meet us there along with your birth parents. Would you be okay with that?"

She blushed again for some unknown reason. "Sure, that would be fine. The Sixth Year prefects are on duty today so we don't have any head responsibilities. I just need to change out of my school uniform." She headed for the door but was stopped by Draco carefully grasping her arm. She looked at him quizzically.

"Um, yeah. There is something you need to know first." He took a deep breath before speaking again. "I told Blaise about the Vow. Unfortunately, Blaise has a big mouth and may have shouted it across the Great Hall. The school knows. I'm sorry, I know you didn't want people to know yet and the idiot couldn't control his reaction and-" His blabbering was cut off by Hermione's hand on his mouth.

"It wasn't your fault. I have noticed that Blaise is surprisingly like Ron with his inability to not blurt out whatever is on his mind. People were going to find out anyway, it's better that they know instead of hiding it."

"You know, I'm really glad you're not angry. I would hate to be on the wrong end of your wand."

"Believe me; Blaise will not get away with it. Who do you think put the body hair removal potion in the Slytherin food last year?" she said with a broad smile.

"That was you?! It took a week for my hair to grow back," said Draco with admiration.

"Yes, it was me. Parkinson ruined my potion and caused me to get a failing grade. My dad eventually figured out it was me and changed the grade to an Outstanding. He decided not to tell anyone because he grudgingly admitted that the potion was flawless. I lost fifty points for the prank though."

Draco shook his head and laughed. The entire Slytherin house was livid but no one could figure out how it was done. "You've been spending too much time with the Weasley twins."

"You're kidding right? Half of their products for the new store were my idea. They just perfected them."

"I never thought that the Gryffindor Golden Girl would be a master prankster. I can't wait to see what you have in store for Blaise."

The weather was cold and crisp but overall beautiful for the late autumn day. The carriage ride to the little village went quickly and soon the Head students were stepping into the Three Broomsticks. The adults were already there and currently being harassed by Rita Skeeter.

"Just a quote, my readers and the public deserve to know where you've been."

"Shut it Skeeter or I'll stick you back in the jar. I better not see any speculation or false quotes or I'll have you turned into the Ministry faster than you can say 'Animagus,'" spat Hermione. The reporter paled before scurrying off.

"Very impressive Miss Granger," said Lucius, raising his glass to her. "Shall we get to it then?"

"Get to what Mr. Malfoy?"

"Planning your wedding."

AN: hehehehe...cliffy? Yep.


	10. Chapter 10

"Wow Father, jumping into it pretty quickly aren't you?" Draco asked sarcastically. He felt Hermione tense as soon as the words left his father's mouth.

"Unfortunately, there are complications Son. We went through the memory countless times and there was never a specific time set for the marriage. Unless the Vow is specific, the Vow must be completed by the time both parties turn eighteen. We all know the consequences if it is not completed by then," said Lucius with a serious look. Hermione started to sway slightly and Draco caught her before her knees buckled. Amaryllis jumped up and started to examine her, her nursing instinct kicking in. She completely forgot about her wand and examined her the muggle way.

"Here sweetheart, drink some water and sit down. Your pulse is pretty high and I'm sure your blood pressure just skyrocketed," she said soothingly. Finally remembering her wand, she conjured a blood pressure cuff and preceded to double check her suspicions, which were accurate.

"Ammy? What is that contraption?" asked Narcissa. Amaryllis explained what she had been doing in the muggle world and about what it was like being a muggle nurse. She kept talking, keeping an eye on Hermione and letting her have time to absorb this new information.

"I'm only eighteen. I hadn't planned on marriage until at least my twenties. I have so much I want to do with my life and I refuse to be some sort of brood mare," Hermione said, rambling.

"We understand that dear. Luckily, there was no mention of children in that blasted Vow so there isn't any pressure," said Narcissa. Lucius tried to speak but was cut off by his wife. "No Lucius! This poor child has been through enough. I will not force children on her, traditions be damned."

"I agree with Narcissa. I know I haven't been around but Sev filled me in on everything that has happened since I left. I don't believe that forcing either of them into having children would be a good idea. Both of them are so smart and have so much potential. I don't know about anyone else, but I think it's time for some Pureblood traditions to fade out. Let them choose how they want to live their lives. They're already being forced into a marriage; let them have as much freedom as possible." Hermione smiled gratefully at her birth mother. At least she understood.

"Hermione and Draco are two of the best students Hogwarts has ever had. Draco is a mere .01 points behind her in grades and both have the highest ever recorded. I know Draco has expressed interest in working as a Potions Master for Malfoy Corporation. I'm not sure what Hermione is interested in doing but there are whispers that she would be accepted anywhere due to her intelligence," said Snape. If one listened closely enough, they would hear pride in his voice.

"If I may interject," said Lucius, "I know for a fact that the Department of Mysteries wants her. They haven't recruited a new worker in the last twenty years but her talents are well known in the Ministry. The last time they even thought about recruiting anyone was when Amaryllis and Severus were in Sixth Year."

Hermione was stunned. She had no idea what she wanted to do with her life but the Department of Mysteries was always one of her top choices. She loved research and getting to dabble in magic unknown to the public would be a glorious experience.

"How do you know this Mr. Malfoy?" she asked.

"Along with being the head of Malfoy Corp, I also handle the payroll of certain parts of the Ministry. The Department of Mysteries is one part I handle. They requested the funds to hire someone new. I, of course, am a bit of a nosy bastard and I asked who they wanted. They said you." The table laughed. Everyone except Hermione knew that Lucius was not just a bit nosy. He was the nosiest person out there. He always had to know everything. It was his nature. His wife would never admit it out loud, but him and Severus were two of the biggest gossip queens in the Wizarding world.

"It's a lot to think about. Everything that has happened is a lot to think about. If I get a solid offer from the Department of Mysteries, I will go from there. Until then I am just hoping to survive the weekend. I'm sure several people were pissed when Blaise opened his mouth."

"If by people you mean Miss Parkinson, she has been taken care of," said Severus. Both Hermione and Draco leaned in, wanting to know the punishment.

"Since physical harm was threatened, she is now charmed to stay fifty feet away from you at all times. If she so much as thinks about casting a spell on you, she will have the sudden urge to compliment every person she meets."

"That is...ridiculously devious. Nice work Dad."

"Malfoys! DuLaine! Crazy ba...I mean Professor!" shouted Blaise as he skipped up to the table. He had a wide grin, glassy eyes and flushed cheeks.

"Oh good lord, I told the twins they weren't ready yet," said Hermione as she shook her head. When the table looked at her with confused faces she explained. "During summer break Ron was all depressed because his Quidditch team lost yet another game. He was moping about and getting on my nerves so I told the twins to make some happy pills and shove them down his throat. Unfortunately, they took me seriously and Ron spent two days in St. Mungos singing about sunshine. Since then, the twins have been trying to perfect the recipe and they it out on unsuspecting customers."

Once again the table broke into laughter. Blaise was giggling happily, the potion he took making everything around him seem funny. Hermione saw George enter the pub, no doubt looking for Blaise. She waved him over.

"Granger, how are you my favorite curly haired freak?"

"Didn't I tell you it wasn't ready, you overly spotted gingersnap? Get the poor boy an antidote; he's a Slytherin, not a Hufflepuff."

George dramatically put a hand over his heart and pouted. "You wound me Granger. I thought you loved me."

"As much as I love another hole in my head," she said with a grin. "Oh, how rude of me. George, this is my birth mother Amaryllis DuLaine. You already know my birth father and this is Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy."

George being George didn't bat an eye at her table mates. "Good to meet you all. Mr. Malfoy, if you promise not to kill me, I'll make sure not to let Hermione hide hair removal in your food. Deal?"

Lucius smiled, Severus having told him of the incident the year before. He shook George's hand before agreeing. George left, shouting a goodbye over his shoulder while dragging a bubbly Blaise by the collar. Amaryllis and Narcissa started talking about wedding details, trying to include Hermione as much as possible. Hermione knew that the wedding would be huge. The Malfoy's and DuLaines were considered Wizarding royalty even with their checkered past. Hermione asked if she could have a muggle wedding dress, a nod to her muggle upbringing. Amaryllis assured Narcissa that the dresses could be quite beautiful and perfectly appropriate for a Pureblood Society wedding. Hermione quickly sketched out an idea for her dress. She, like most girls, dreamed about her wedding. She didn't want something flamboyant or over the top. She was a simple girl and she didn't need yards of tulle and layers of ruffles. Narcissa adored the simple sketch and immediately owled a well know muggleborn witch with a flair for muggle formal dresses.

"Well dears, it is getting late and I am sure you have some shopping to do. Lucius and I must head home, we have much to do. How does a spring wedding sound? We can have it the Saturday after you return from America."

Draco shrugged, not really caring. It was his wedding but he already had a headache from being forced to listen about the pros and cons of silk, blue wizard roses and a hoard of other wedding related topics. Hermione wanted to protest and wait until the last possible second. She didn't though. She was a smart girl and understood magic and knew that it was a good idea not to wait.

"If Draco is agreeable so am I. But my studies come first. I have no problem helping plan but I need to focus on school. And I know the wedding will be huge but if we can...I don't know...make it not so extravagant? I would love for it to be simple but tasteful. Solid gold candlesticks and unicorns would be too much."

"We completely understand dear! But what made you bring up unicorns and candlesticks?" asked Narcissa.

"Pansy," said both Draco and Hermione. Amaryllis rolled her eyes and snorted.

"I remember that girl's mother. Hyacinth was just as pretentious as her daughter. The chit thought the world revolved around her. Her entitlement complex is something that needs electrotherapy to remove. Hyacinth married Philemon Parkinson correct?"

"She wishes," scoffed Lucius. "She married his younger brother, Marcellus. She tried her hardest to get Phil but he wouldn't have it. He ended up marrying a sweet Pureblood girl from Hufflepuff. They live in Australia now. He is in the running for Australian Minister of Magic. Marcellus is slowly losing his fortune to gambling. When it came time for Pansy to sign the marriage documents, he blew his top when she couldn't. Apparently he had been banking on having access to Malfoy money via Pansy so he could pay off his debts. Last I heard, if he doesn't pay off the interest on the debts they will lose the house. Phil has bailed him out a few times but he finally wiped his hands of his brother."

"I would have sympathy, but both Hyacinth and Marcellus were terrible as children and it seems they passed that trait on to their daughter. Her display this morning was not the way a proper lady would act, Pureblood or not." Hermione and Draco both choked back laughs. Neither could remember a time where Pansy Parkinson had ever acted like a "lady." Their parents said their goodbyes and left the two students to enjoy their day off.

"Where would you like to go My Lady?" asked Draco with a sarcastic bow. She giggled at the display, glad he was still able to joke around.

"Well, I need quills and parchment. I can't really think of anything else that I need. You?"

"Quills, parchment, ink, new quidditch gloves, broom polishing kit and sweets. I'm out of chocolate," he said with a pout. She giggled and both of them went about their shopping. They decided to get to know each other better and played twenty questions. She learned his favorite color was not green, but blue. He preferred Italian food and he had a secret love of American football. He discovered her favorite color was purple, she loved any type of soup and if she could choose a sport it would be baseball. They got into a deep discussion about books, especially the classics. She found out that when it came to literature, Purebloods grudgingly agreed that muggles far surpassed wizards when it came to talent.

They ran into Harry and Ron at the sweet shop, Ron happily spending the galleons he won from Harry. They decided to have dinner together at the Three Broomsticks, along with Lavender and Ginny. They agreed on a time and split up once again to continue shopping.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't make it to dinner.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: *peeks around corner* Hello? Is anyone there? Shoot...all my readers are gone. Well, of any of you come back, I offer my deepest apologies on the massive gap between chapters. Real life has been pretty killer. I had two major surgeries in the last three months, the most recent being less than two weeks ago (by the way...having a uterus removed makes you three pounds lighter...seriously.) anywho, I beg you all to forgive me and I will be picking up the pace on this one. Enjoy!

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"You're joking," Hermione gasped, trying to calm her laughter.

"I'm not. My father was mortified and Malina Zabini thought it was the greatest thing ever. Father tried to ban Blaise from the house but Mother said and I quote "Well, boys will be boys... He just needs to learn that his boy parts are not appropriate dinner conversation.' I think it was the only time Father ever blushed."

"How old was he?"

"Thirteen." Hermione broke down into laughter again, her cheeks flushed and her eyes dancing with merriment. They were exchanging funny stories from their childhood. Draco never really did much but he had a boatload of stories about Blaise. She had told him about her first bout of accidental magic. She was four years old and a neighbor girl was making fun of her hair. She had gotten so mad when all of a sudden the girl went bald. Luckily, a muggleborn wizard was visiting his parents in the neighborhood and fixed it before the girls parents noticed. The young wizard had made her promise to keep her magic quiet until she received her Hogwarts letter. Draco was also four years old and he managed to summon a broomstick that his father refused to buy. Unfortunately, he summoned it from the store and his father had gotten a ministry visit for that stunt.

It was near time for them to meet everyone for dinner and they turned towards the Three Broomsticks. They were passing the alley between the buildings when Hermione stopped to listen. She heard scuffling and a pained moan. Her and Draco met each others eyes and nodded in silent agreement. They went into defensive mode and went into the alley. The waning daylight lit their way and they slowly and silently creped towards the sound of whimpering. There was an obviously human lump on the ground, blonde hair glinting dully. The injured person looked up, scared because they thought their assailant was back.

"Daphne!" Hermione and Draco rushed towards her, careful not to hurt the girl further. She was in very bad shape, bruises and cuts covering every exposed inch of her body. She was favoring her right side and her ankle was twisted at an awkward angle. She was leaning against a cracked and dirty mirror. It seemed that she had landed against it, breaking off a large corner.

"Oh fuck," breathed Hermione. She threw her wand out and cast her patronus. She sent the otter to every teacher in the school, unsure about who was in town. She also sent one to Madame Pomfrey, her expertise was needed. While they waited, they tried to wipe the blood from Daphne's face.

"Daph? What happened?" asked Draco. The girl tried to talk but couldn't. On closer inspection, it looked like she had been choked. Whoever did this to her was angry. This was too violent for it to be a random attack. Draco started dabbing blood from the girl's face while Hermione did some diagnostic spells. She had taken an elective mediwitch course with Madam Pomfrey the year before and still remembered some of the more basic first aid.

"Draco, her ribs are broken and so is her ankle. She has some internal bleeding too." Draco nodded while murmuring soothing words to Daphne. Due to being choked, she really wasn't able to speak. Within minutes of them finding Daphne, they were surrounded by teachers from the school. Hermione relayed the injuries she found to Madam Pomfrey while Draco explained how they found her. Pomfrey allowed Hermione to patch up the less severe injuries while she handled the more complicated. She was too injured to move so they had to do what the Aurors did, which was Field MediMagick. Once she was healed enough for transport, the Head students were dismissed. They were required to head straight for Dumbledore's office due to their part in the incident. In the ensuing chaos, both of them forgot about dinner with their friends.

"Do you think she's alright?" Draco asked. They had been sitting in the Headmaster's office for over an hour, waiting for Dumbledore.

"I'm sure she is perfectly fine. Her injuries were serious, but easily fixed with magic." The two sat in silence once again, their thoughts on the girl in the infirmary. Daphne Greengrass was a sweet girl. She never caused problems, even when it was "cool" to be prejudice. Hermione and Draco racked their brains to figure out why someone would harm her. So deep in their thoughts they didn't hear Dumbledore come in.

"Good evening. I apologize for the delay but I wanted to make sure Miss Greengrass was fully healed before coming up here. Her bones are the only thing left to heal and she will be just fine. Unfortunately, she did not see her attacker."

Dumbledore asked them about their discovery of her and if they noticed anything unusual, which they hadn't. Due to the extreme violence against Daphne, all further Hogsmead trips were cancelled until the assailant was caught. It was up to the Head students to inform the rest of the student body. Dumbledore had dinner sent to the Head dorms and dismissed them.

They had barely finished eating when frantic pounding signified someone at the door. Draco snatched his wand and opened it, braced to defend himself.

"What the fuck did you do to her? Where is Hermione?" shouted Ron. Draco barely managed to avoid a stunning spell and retaliated with a Stupefy of his own. Harry managed to block the spell from hitting Ron and summoned the other men's wands. Ron turned and snarled at Harry, who quirked an eyebrow at his friend, daring him to try something.

"What Ron was trying to say was 'is Hermione okay?' He's worried, as am I." Ron tried to grab his wand back and Harry just smacked him on the head with it. "You two didn't come to dinner and then we heard that a female seventh year was attacked."

Draco explained what happened and invited them inside. Before he could close the door, Ginny, Lavender, Blaise and Theo came barging in also. The combined voices were loud and indecipherable, everyone trying to find out what was going on. Hermione pointed her wand at her neck, muttering the Sonorus charm.

"Quiet!" She waited a beat for everyone to stop talking before she whispered Quietus and spoke in her normal voice. "I know you're all worried. I'm not sure what exactly we are allowed to reveal so anything I tell you has to stay here. We found Daphne Greengrass in the alley near the Three Broomsticks. She was badly beaten and we found her just in time. At this point, we have no idea who the attacker is so of you hear anything please inform a teacher immediately. Draco and I will be posting this information tomorrow for the rest of the school. Daphne is going to be just fine."

The room exploded into chatter again, Theo Nott growing pale and rushing out of the room. He didn't know it was Daphne who was attacked and rushed to be with her. Blaise went with him, knowing his friend needed someone with him. Draco was once again surrounded by Gryffindors.

"Hermione do you have anything to eat here?" whined Ron. He was rummaging through the kitchen cabinets and finding nothing of interest. Both Hermione and Draco ate pretty healthy and Draco kept his sweets stash in his room.

"Ronald there is granola bars and fruit. Eat some of that. And didn't you just eat?"

"I'm a growing boy Hermione! I need food to grow strong and healthy."

"I swear we've had this conversation before," she said thoughtfully, tapping her finger against her chin. The occupants of the room laughed and Ron once again pouted. It was close to curfew so Hermione ushered her friends out, promising to help Ginny study for a Herbology exam the next day.

The school was abuzz the morning after the attack. Students were worried and Howlers from parents were appearing left and right. The Daily Prophet had written about it, but reiterated that the school was taking measures to prevent it from happening again. The area that Daphne was found in was scanned for residual magic but the attack was purely physical.

"This is ridiculous! I have things to buy and now because some muggle lover was attacked, we are being punished?" Pansy ranted. Most Slytherins looked at her in disgust. Even the hardcore Purists were scooting away from her. Daphne was Pureblood, rich and one of the few Purebloods with no black marks against her. Muggle lover or not, she was one of theirs and Daphne's attack was a terrible thing.

"Shut it Parkinson, before I shut it for you," said Blaise, shooting her a dirty look.

"Who do you think you're talking to Zabini? You have no right to order me around, you're not my father OR my husband."

"No, but your future husband is old enough to be your father's father. What's wrong Pansy? Daddy couldn't find someone your age to deal with you?" Pansy huffed and stood up, throwing a rude gesture towards Blaise before stomping towards her first class.

"Aw man, she's going to be in a snit the whole day and she's my partner for Herbology AND Transfiguration," groaned Goyle. "Did ya have to piss her off that much?" Blaise gave him a triumphant grin before turning towards Draco. "You're quiet. Quit being a pussy and talk."

"Sorry Blaise. I'm worried about Daphne. Her parents came last night when they received word of what happened. Her father is furious of course, but doesn't blame the school."

The young men sat in silence, both trying to figure out who could hurt such a sweet girl. Astoria was absent from breakfast, choosing to stay with her sister. Draco glanced at Gryffindor table, which was much quieter than usual. Hermione's brow was furrowed, showing her to be deep in thought. Suddenly, her eyes widened. She jumped up from the table and ran towards the huge double doors.

"The pensieve!" her mind screamed at her. Daphne may not have seen her attacker but there was a broken mirror in the alley where she was found. Hermione knew that Dumbledore had a meeting with Magical Law Enforcement during breakfast, the only free time of the man's day. She quickly shouted the password to the gargoyle before sprinting up the spiral stairs. She barged into the office, startling the Aurors and the Vice Minister of Magic.

"Gentlemen, I apologize for the disturbance. This is Hermione Granger, Head Girl." Hermione waved slightly, embarrassed and out of breath. Dumbledore gave her a small smile and waited patiently while she caught her breath.

"Headmaster...the mirror..." she gasped, still winded from the long run. Dumbledore quirked an eyebrow, while the other men rolled their eyes impatiently.

"We were in the middle of an important meeting, girl. What mirror could possibly be more important than the attack of a student?" said one of the Aurors with a sneer. Hermione fumed and squared her shoulders.

"Actually, the mirror is pretty damn important!" she snapped. "Daphne was leaning against a broken mirror in the alley. She may not have seen her attacker, but based on the condition she was found in and the blood splatters that were on the walls, she was attacked there. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that viewing her memory in a pensieve would show her attacker in the reflection. Even if the attacker was disguised, we would be able to examine the wand via the memory and possibly get identification that way. Now is the mirror important? Or are you too stupid to follow what I'm saying?"

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AN: Go go gadget Snarky Hermione! I love it when she gets a 'tude :)


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